^UfLER 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


Y~' 


UNiVL 


A 'J 

LOS  ANGr...^,, 

UBRAfiY 


SCOTLAND'S    RUINED   ABBEYS 


"%£2^^^ 


SCOTLAND'S    RUINED 

ABBEYS 


BY 


HOWARD    CROSBY    BUTLER,   A.M. 

SOMETIME   LECTURER   ON   ARCHITECTURE  IN   PRINCETON   UNIVERSITY,   AND   FELLOW 
OF  THE  AMERICAN   SCHOOL  OF  CLASSICAL   STUDIES   IN    ROME 


Wrni  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY   THE  AUTHOR 


THE    MACMH.LAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:    MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 
1900 

All  rights  rittrvid 


1I3G47 


Copyright,  1899, 
Bv  THE  MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  October,  1899.     Reprinted  September, 
1900. 


NortoooD  ^3«B« 

J.  S.  Cushinj!  *  Co.  -  Berwick  It  Smith 

NorwiKxl  Mail.  US. A. 


WHOSE   ADVICE   AND   ASSISTANCE   HAVE  DONE   MUCH   TO 
FURTHER   WHATEVER   OF   WORTH    IT  CONTAINS 

2r!)t0  Book  is  Ifffctionatclg  IDctiicntct) 


PREFACE 

The  mediaeval  architecture  of  Scotland  has  been  amply 
treated  in  books  of  more  or  less  scientific  character.  Accurate 
descriptions  of  every  historic  edifice  in  the  ancient  realm  can 
be  found,  and  historical  sketches  are  not  lackino;.  But  the 
material  at  hand  dealing  with  this  subject  exists  only  in  a 
form  too  bulky  for  general  use.  The  pamphlets,  on  the  other 
hand,  which  are  to  be  had  at  the  site  of  many  of  these  ruins, 
are  often  too  superficial  and  sometimes  incorrect  and  not  suited 
to  the  purpose  of  more  deeply  interested  jDcrsons,  while  botli 
classes  have  ignored  the  romantic  interest  which  centres  about 
these  places  from  the  roles  they  play  in  the  poetry  and  fiction 
for  which   Scotland  has  long  been  so  famous. 

It  is  the  purj)()se  of  this  book  to  place  in  convenient  form, 
at  the  disposal  of  interested  travellers  among  the  ruins  of 
North  Britain,  and  of  all  to  whom  these  ancient  buildintrs  aie 
an  object  of  pleasant  memory,  an  accurate,  thougli  necessaril}- 
ijiief,  history  of  each  of  the  more  impoilaiit  abbeys,  with  a 
careful  description  of  its  struct inc  in  (he  liglit  of  the  most 
J    recent  study  and  criticism. 

vH 


viii  PREFACE 

To  this  collection  of  facts  and  theories  has  been  added 
whatever  of  traditional  or  romantic  lore  has  been  woven  about 
the  sites  or  the  ruins  as  they  stand,  and  for  this  reason  quo- 
tations have  been  made  directly  from  Scottish  literature. 

The  work  is  the  result  of  two  summers  spent  in  Scotland, 
during  which  the  pleasure  of  looking  up  the  historical  and 
romantic  side  of  the  ruins  manifested  itself  to  the  author, 
whose  original  interest  in  them  had  been  purely  from  archi- 
tectural motives. 

The  subject  has  been  confined  to  the  ruined  abbeys,  because 
restoration,  in  days  when  art  did  not  flourish  in  Britain,  has 
stripped  many  of  the  abbeys  of  every  vestige  of  beauty  and 
picturesqueness,  while  present  use  has  broken  the  charm  of 
romance. 

The  illustrations,  most  of  them,  were  made  by  the  author 
from  the  ruins  themselves.  A  considerable  number  were  taken 
from  photographs.     This  has  been  noted  in  every  case. 

For  the  benefit  of  any  who  wish  to  read  more  widely  upon 
the  Scottish  architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages  I  refer  to  the 
books  of  Messrs.  McGibbon  and  Ross,  whose  works,  in  several 
volumes,  upon  Scottish  mediaeval  architecture,  will  be  found 
accurate  and  exhaustive,  while  the  older  works  of  Billings,  upon 
the  ecclesiastical  and  baronial  architecture  of  Scotland,  are  full 
of  interest  and  finely  illustrated  in  the  engravings  of  thirty 
years  ago. 


PREFACE  ix 

The  subject  of  ecclesiastical  history,  though  avoided  as  much 
as  possible,  has  been  introduced  here  and  there  to  explain 
certain  conditions,  historical  or  architectural.  These  references 
are  quoted  largely  from  the  best  authorities  of  the  day,  but 
the  author  can  be  held  responsible  only  for  such  parts  of  the 
work  as  bear  directly  upon  art  history. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

PACES 

Beginnings  of  Gothic  style  in  Scotland.  Abbeys  of  David  I.  (1124-1153).  Archi- 
tecture of  his  reign.  Earlier  buildings.  Pointed  style  nitroduced  under  Will- 
iam I.  (1165-1214).  Growth  of  architecture  under  Alexander  II.  and  III.  (1214- 
1286).  Destruction  of  abbeys  during  War  of  Independence.  Revival  in  reign 
of  Bruce ;  introduction  of  decorated  style.  Architecture  under  the  Stuarts. 
Final  demolition  of  the  abbeys  by  Henry  VIII.  of  England.  General  survey  of 
Scottish  ecclesiastical  architecture       .         .         .         .         .         •         •         ■  '"9 


CHAPTER   II 

lONA 

Early  hi.story  of  lona ;  coming  of  St.  Columba.  St.  Columba's  mission.  Importance 
of  the  abbey  of  lona.  The  Culdees.  The  Norsemen  seize  lona.  Restoration 
under  Malcolm  III.  Changes  under  David  I.  Reginald,  Lord  of  the  Isles 
(1202),  rebuilds  abbey.  Description  of  the  abbey.  Its  sculpture.  St.  Orau's 
chapel.     The  convent ^'^  M 

CHAPTER    III 

Dn.NlT.KMI.INK 

The  abbey  begun  by  Malcolm  Canmore  and  Q^'*-'^""  Margaret,  comj)leled  bv  Alexan- 
der I.  (iii5)and  David  1.  (1124).  Desc  ri|)ti()n  of  Norman  nave,  comparison 
witli  Durham  Cathedral.  The  abbey  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Translation  of 
the  relics  of  St.  Margaret.  The  abbey  as  a  shrine.  The  Westminster  of  Scot- 
land.    Bruce.     The  "  New  Abbey  Church."     The  monastic  buildings         .  34-54 

xi 


Xll 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  IV 


HOLYROOD 


PAGES 


Site  of  the  abbey.  Description.  Norman  work.  The  Gothic  structure.  Vaults. 
The  west  front  and  towers.  History  of  the  abbey.  The  legend.  Beginnings 
of  a  palace  at  Holyrood.     Holyrood  and  the  Stuarts.     Destruction     .        .  55-70 

CHAPTER   V 
Jedburgh 


Early  establishment  of  the  abbey, 
vault.     The  Early  English  nave, 
of  the  abbey 


Portions  extant. 
F'rench  influence. 


Norman  work.     The  barrel 
Late  restorations.     History 


71-86 


CHAPTER   VI 

Kelso 

Fortified  abbeys.  Kelso;  its  extant  portions;'  its  style.  The  style  of  the  north 
porch.  Monastic  buildings.  History  of  the  abbey.  The  monks.  The  defence 
of  the  abbey  and  its  destruction  ........  87-99 


CHAPTER   VII 
Melrose 

The  ruin.  Description  of  its  parts.  The  decorated  nave,  etc.  Perpendicular  work 
in  transepts  and  sanctuary.  The  vaulting.  The  exterior  of  the  abbey.  Its 
sculpture.  The  abbey's  history.  Its  great  wealth.  Its  destruction  by  Edward  II. 
and  rebuilding  by  Robert  Bruce.  The  heart  of  Bruce  and  the  tombs  of  the 
Douglases.  Richard  II.  and  the  abbey.  The  final  destruction.  Sir  Walter 
Scott 100-123 

CHAPTER   VIII 
Dryburgh 

The  ruin ;  its  extant  portions.  The  well-preserved  cloister  buildings.  Description 
of  the  church,  St.  Mary's  aisle.  The  buildings  about  the  cloister.  The  history 
of  the  abbey.  Its  founding  by  Hugh  de  Moreville.  The  white  friars.  Its 
destruction  by  Ralph  Evers.     Sir  Walter's  grave 124-137 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER   IX 
Haddington  Priory 

FACES 

Early  Christianity  in  East  Lothian.  The  abbeys  of  Coldingham  and  North  Berwick. 
Post-Norman  period.  Haddington.  Parish  church  or  Franciscan  abbey?  De- 
scription of  the  ruin.  Early  English  choir  and  transepts.  Decorated  details. 
The  key  to  the  abbey 138-15S 

CHAPTER  X 
Arbroath 

The  abbey's  site;  in  ancient  times  and  now.  First  pointed  style  in  Scotland. 
Study  of  superstructure  from  plan  and  fragments.  Record  of  the  abbey.  Its 
dedication  to  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury.     Its  abbots  ....      156-171 

CHAPTER   XI 
KiNLOss  —  Bkauly 

The  unfrequented  abbeys  of  the  north.  Early  church  north  of  the  Grampians.  The 
abbey  of  Kinloss.  The  abbey  of  Beauly.  Its  situation.  Description  of  its 
parts.     The  story  of  Beauly 172-185 

CHAPTER  XII 
Pluscardkn 

An  ideal  location.  A  well-preserved  niin.  lJcscrii)ti()n  of  church.  The  monastic 
buildings.  The  abbey's  history.  The  white  monks.  The  "  Wolf  of  Badcnoch." 
The  coming  of  the  black  friars 186-201 

CHAPTER    XIII 

KlI.WINNINC; 

The  conversion  of  the  west  coast.  St.  Vinm-ii.  The  aiilx-y  and  the  f|iirstinn  of  its 
founder.  Study  of  the  abbey  from  fr.ij^incitts.  ihrcc  periods.  The  aliiicy's 
site;  its  history 202  215 


xiv  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XIV 
Crosraguel 

PAGES 

The  abbey  famous  for  the  preservation  of  its  monastic  buildings.  The  site.  De- 
scription of  the  ruin.  Its  history.  The  family  of  Bruce.  The  trial  of  an  abbot. 
Closing  years 216-233 

CHAPTER  XV 
The  Abbeys  of  Galloway 

The  first  Christian  mission  to  Scotland.  St.  Ninian.  The  ancient  Earls  of  Gallo- 
way. The  abbey  of  Whithorn.  Description  of  the  ruin.  Its  history.  The 
abbey  of  Glenluce.     Its  site  and  a  description  of  the  ruin  ....      234-244 

CHAPTER   XVI 

DUNDRENNAN 

Kirkcudbrightshire.  Its  romantic  and  historical  interest.  The  Cistercian  abbey  of 
Dundrennan.  Description  of  the  ruin.  The  transepts.  The  chapter  house. 
Historical  notes 245-257 

CHAPTER  XVII 

LiNCLUDEN 

Twixt  Nith  and  Cluden.     The  abbey's  early  history.     Its  blazonry.     Description  of 

its  architecture.     Its  decorative  details 258-268 

CHAPTER  XVIII 
Sweetheart 

The  latest  of  the  great  abbeys.     A  romantic  foundation.     History  of  the  abbey.     Its 

plan  and  construction.     The  foreign  architects.     The  abbey's  preservation      269-284 


LIST   OF   PLANS 


Dunfermline 

Holyrood 

Jedburgh 

Kelso 

Melrose     . 

Dryburgh 

Haddington 

Arbroath  . 

Beauly 

Pluscarden 

Kilwinning 

Crosraguel 

nienluce   . 

Dundrennan 

Lincludcn 

Swfcflieart 


PAGE 

37 
56 

11 
89 

103 
125 
149 
160 
179 
190 
206 
220 
241 
247 
258 
277 


XV 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


lONA 


The  Convent  Chapel  from  Southeast 
Abbey  Choir  looking  East  {from  photograph') 
South  Aisle  of  Abbey  Choir  {from  photograph) 
The  Abbey  and  St.  Oran's  Chapel 


Dunfermline  :  Interior  of  Nave  {from  photograph) 

West  Portal 

Bruce  Memorial  Brass 

Refectory  and  Abbot's  Tower  from  Parapet     . 
Interior  of  Refectory        .         .         .         .         . 


HoLVFtooi) :  Arcade  {initial)    . 
Norman  Part  of  Nave 
Interior  of  Nave       .... 
West  Front     ..... 
Sculpture  over  Main  Portal  {tailpiece) 

jEDi'.UROir :  Fragment  of  Romanesque  Altar-piece  {initial) 
The  Abljey  from  the  River 
Two  Bays  of  Norman  Choir     . 
Norman  Vault-ribs  in  Choir  Aisle    . 
Beneath  the  Tower 
Norman  Doorway   .... 
Piers  and  Arches  of  the  Nave 
View  from  the  (iarrlen     . 
Celtic  Slal)  (tailpiece) 

Kei.SO  :  The  Abbey  from  Northeast  {from  old  print) 
Aisle  of  Chf)ir  ...... 

Interior  from  Choir  ..... 

North  Porch 


FAGR 
23 

25 

27 

30 

39 
42 

49 
5' 
53 

55 

57 

59 
62 

70 

7« 
1^- 
74 

75 

n 

79 
81 

85 

86 

88 
9« 
93 
95 


xvu 


xviii  LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Melrose:  Statue  of  St.  Andrew  (rVz/y/a/) loo 

Abbey  from  Southwest    .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  loi 

End  of  South  Transept  ...........  io6 

West  Wall  of  South  Transept io8 

Stair  Tower 109 

Keystone  —  Head  of  Michael  Scott 113 

The  Abbey  from  the  Southeast        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .121 

Keystones  of  High  Vaults 123 

Drvburgh  :  St.  Mary's  Aisle 128 

South  Transept  and  Chapter  House         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .130 

Doorway  leading  to  Cloister    .         ...         .         .         .         .         ,         ,         -131 

A  Corner  of  the  Cloister  Court 133 

Haddington:  Capital  from  West  Portal  (/«///«/) 138 

The  Abbey  and  the  "Auld  Brig" 142 

The  Tower  and  Choir     ...........  147 

Interior  of  the  Choir        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         •  '5' 

Arbroath:  The  Abbey  from  the  Southeast 156 

West  Portal 158 

South  Transept       ............  163 

The  Nave  looking  West 171 

Beauly:  The  Abbey  from  the  Highroad 178 

Windows  in  South  Wall  of  Nave 180 

The  Choir 183 

Pluscakden:  The  Abbey  from  the  Wood 189 

The  Abbey  from  Northeast     .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .191 

The  Crossing,  from  Stair  to  Dormitories 193 

Doorway  to  Cloister 196 

Kilwinning  :  Doorway  to  Cloister 208 

End  of  South  Transept 210 

Crosraguel:  Sedilia  in  Choir  (/«//zVz/) 216 

Baltersan  Castle      .         .         .         .         .         .         •         .         •         .         .         .218 

Tht 'i>i2i\ t,\n\.Qr\or  (fro?n  photograph) 221 

Tower,  Chapter  House,  and  Apse    .........  223 

Capital  in  the  Sacristy 225 

Cloister  from  Watch-tower 229 

The  Dove  cote 233 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xlx 


PAGE 


Whithorn  :  Norman  Portal ' 238 

Glenluce:  Corbel  in  Chapter  House  (/«//'/«/) 240 

Transept  End  and  Chapter  House 242 

Doorway  of  Chapter  House 243 

DuNDRENNAN  :  Effigy  of  Abbot  {initial) 245 

View  across  the  Transepts       ..........  249 

Front  of  Chapter  House 253 

The  Abbey  from  the  "Crown  and  Anchor" 256 

LiNCLUDEN :  Piscina  in  Choir  {initial) 258 

The  Abbey  from  Cluden  Water       .........  262 

The  Calvary  and  the  Chapel  of  Good  Sir  James  Douglas  ....  263 

Tomb  of  Foundress  in  Choir  .........  265 

Corbel  in  Choir  {tailpiece) 268 

Sweetheart:  The  Abbey  from  the  Fields 275 

Nave  looking  West  {from  photograph)  .......  279 

The  East  End,  Interior 281 


ABBEYS 


Arbroath    .     .     Tironensian      .     .     William  I.     . 
Beauly  .     .     .     Valliscaiilian    .     .     Lord  Bissett 

Cambuskenneth David  I. 

Coldingham 
Crosraguel 
Dryburgh  . 
Dumfries    . 
Dundrennan 
Dunfermline 
Dunkeld     . 
Glenluce     . 
Haddington 
Holy  rood   . 


Duncan,  Earl  of  Carrick       .     . 
Hugh  de  Morville       .... 
Devorgilla,  Countess  of  Galloway 
Fergus,  Lord  of  Galloway    .     . 


Cisterciati    .     .     . 
Cltinetisian  .     . 
Premonstratensian 
Franciscan  .     .     . 
Cistercian     .     .     . 

Culdee  (^Benedictine)  Malcolm  HI 

Cultiee  {Benedictine)  King  Kenneth  M'Alpin  . 
Cistercian    .     .     .     Roland,  Lord  of  Galloway 

Franciscan 

Angiistinian      .     .     David  I 


Holy  wood Devorgilla,  Countess  of  Galloway 


Ciddee  {Benedictine)  St.  Columba 

Augustinian      .     .  Reginald,  Lord  of  the  Isles  .     . 

Benedictine  .     .     .     David  I 

Tironensian      .     .     David  I 

Tironensian      .     .  Richard  de  Morville  .... 

Cistercian     .     .     .     David  I 

Benedictine  {CoUegiate)  Uchtred,  Lord  of  Galloway  . 

Cistercian     .     .     .     David  I 

David  I 


lona  .  .  . 
lona,  Convent 
Jedburgh  .  . 
Kelso  .  .  . 
Kilwinning 
Kinloss  .  . 
Lincluden  .  . 
Melrose      .     . 

Newbattle       

North  Berwick,  Convent,  Cistercian 


Paisley  .     . 

Pluscarden 

Soulseat 

Sweetheart 

Tongueland 

Whithorn  . 

Wigtown    . 


Clunensian 

Valliscaulian  {Benedictine)  Alexander  II 

Premonstratensian     Fergus,  Lord  of  Galloway    .     . 

Devorgilla,  Countess  of  Galloway 

Fergus,  Lord  of  Galloway    .     . 

Fergus,  Lord  of  Tialloway    . 

Devorgilla,  Countess  of  Galloway 

XX 


Cistercian     .     . 
Premonstratensian 
Premonstratensian 
Dominican   . 


PAOBS 

156-171 

177-185 

2 

139,  140 

216-233 

3,124-137,204,205 

269,  270 

3,  236,  245-257 

4,  I S»  34-54,  199 
2,  15,  18,31,32 
240-244 

138-155 
2,  I,  55-70 
270 

10-33 

20,  22 

4,  71-86 

2,  4,  87-99 

202-215 

2,  3,  172-176 

258-268 

2,  100-123,  244 

2 

140 

228-230 

186-201 

236 

269-284 

236 

235-240 

270 


' 


SCOTLAND'S    RUINED    ABBEYS 


CHAPTER   I 

INTRODUCTORY 

The  tidal  wave  of  architectural  activity  which  swept  over 
Europe  in  the  latter  half  of  the  Middle  Ages  reached  its  high- 
water  mark  in  the  north  of  France ;  but  the  influence  of  its 
motion  was  felt,  in  diminishing  degrees,  in  every  direction 
from  that  centre.  Its  impetus  toward  the  north  was  aided  by 
the  Norman  conquest  of  England,  whence  it  rolled  on  to  break 
in  ripples  over  the  furthest  shores  of  Scotland. 

Few  and  meao^re  were  the  monastic  edifices  in  Scotland  at 
the  end  of  the  eleventh  century;  rude  and  primitive  were  the 
castles  of  the  Scottish  chiefs  until  Saxon  England  had  become 
Norman  Flngland,  and  the  effects  of  this  change  had  revolution- 
ized the  whole  of  Great  Britain.  The  Conqueror  himself  in- 
vaded Scotland,  receivinir  homaire  from  Malcolm  III.  A  few 
years  later  the  Norman  king,  lleiiiy  I.,  sought  a  Scottish 
bride,  Matilda,  daughter  of  Malcolm.  This  alliance  became 
the  entering  wedge  for  Norman  influence  in  Scotland.     Matilda 


2  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

brouglit  with  her  to  the  court  of  the  EngHsh  king  her  young 
brother  David.  Growing  up  amid  Norman  surroundings,  re- 
ceiving his  education  from  a  Norman  bishop,  David  returned 
to  Scotland,  to  become  king  in  course  of  time,  more  Norman 
than  Scot.  Two  features  seem  to  have  been  infused  into  the 
character  of  David  by  his  education :  a  devout  reHgious  enthu- 
siasm and  the  Norman  building  spirit.  Monumental  evidence 
of  this  was  given  even  before  he  became  king.  Returning 
from  England  he  retired  to  Jedburgh,  then  the  chief  town  of 
the  Middle  Marches,  and  there,  in  1118,  erected  a  beautiful 
and  extensive  abbey  for  the  reception  of  an  abbot  with  a 
large  following  of  Benedictine  monks  from  Beauvais. 

What  William  the  Norman  was  to  the  architecture  of  Eng- 
land, David  I.  was  to  that  of  Scotland.  Upon  his  accession 
to  the  throne,  in  1 1 24,  he  made  large  grants  of  crown  lands 
to  the  Church,  founded  abbeys  at  Holyrood,  Kelso,  Melrose, 
Newbattle,  Kinloss,  and  Cambuskenneth ;  elevated  the  ancient 
abbey  of  Dunblane  to  the  dignity  of  a  cathedral;  drove  the  Cul- 
dees  from  their  church  at  Dunkeld  and  established  there  the 
seat  of  a  bishopric.  In  fact,  it  is  unusual  to  find  an  establish- 
ment in  the  whole  domain  that  David  did  not  either  found  or 
enrich.  His  excessive  liberality  toward  the  clergy,  his  zeal  for 
founding  churches  and  for  the  spreading  of  religion,  caused 
him  to  be  canonized  in  the  hearts  of  his  subjects,  and  under 
the  title  of  St.  David  has  he  come  down  to  us  in  history. 


INTRODUCTORY  3 

Comparatively  few  of  the  church  edifices  of  St.  David's  build- 
ing escaped  the  ravages  of  the  wars  with  England  under  the 
Edwards,  so  that  we  are  obliged  to  judge  of  the  style  of  archi- 
tecture during  his  reign  from  fragments  incorporated  with 
buildings  of  later  date.  But  a  single  edifice  preserves  anything 
approaching  a  complete  structure,  —  the  abbey  of  Kelso.  Here 
the  style  of  Romanesque  is  so  unique,  so  unlike  anything  of  its 
kind  across  the  border  or  on  the  Continent,  that  we  are  almost 
ready  to  place  the  style  of  David's  reign  apart,  as  a  school  of 
Romanesque  by  itself.  The  same  general  features  are  perceived 
in  the  earliest  surviving  portions  of  the  abbeys  of  Holyrood, 
Dryburgh,  Kinloss,  and  Dundrennan.  They  consist  in  an  unusual 
degree  of  lightness  manifested  by  the  use  of  colonettes  of  exceed- 
ing slenderness,  in  the  lavish  use  of  mouldings,  which  depend  for 
decorative  effect  upon  depth  of  cutting  rather  than  upon  fan- 
tastic surface  carvings,  in  which  respect  they  arc  more  like  the 
true  Gothic  type,  and  in  the  naive  use  of  the  pointed  arch 
wherever  exigencies  of  space  or  the  demands  of  construction 
would  seem   to  favour  this  form. 

It  is  this  tendency  toward  refinement  and  the  unmistakable 
advance  toward  transition  from  Romanesc|uc  to  (iothic  seen 
in  David's  churches  tluit  would  make  certain  other  edifices  in 
Scotland  seem  to  belong  to  an  earlier  period.  The  principles 
of  construction,  the  motives  of  decoration,  and  the  whole  char- 
acter of  these  buildings,  which  wc  know  to  have  been  built  in 


4  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 

David's  time,  are  entirely  different  from  those  of  such  buildings 
as  the  nave  of  Dunfermline,  the  choir  of  Jedburgh,  and  the 
famous  little  church  of  Dalmeny,  where  the  construction  is 
heavy  and  crude,  the  ornament  profuse  but  barbaric.  Instead 
of  huge  cylindrical  piers  we  have  in  these  later  types  com- 
posite supports  or  piers  with  engaged  columns.  In  place  of 
arches  narrower  in  proportion  and  archivolts  garnished  with 
incised  patterns,  we  see  broad,  deeply  moulded  arches  in 
David's  churches.  The  delicate  interlacing  arcades  of  Kelso 
and  Dryburgh  are  substituted  for  series  of  heavy  single  arches, 
rich  with  dog-tooth  and  zigzag  ornament  supported  by  thick 
colonettes. 

In  short,  these  two  groups  of  Romanesque  buildings  illus- 
trate quite  clearly  the  difference  that  existed  between  the 
social,  and  hence  the  artistic,  condition  of  Scotland  in  the 
reign  of  Malcolm  Canmore  (1054-93)  and  in  that  of  his  young- 
est son  David  (1124-53).  David  had  not  only  profited  by  Eng- 
lish training  at  Winchester  but  he  imported  monastics  from 
France,  and  these  important  facts  must  have  influenced  his 
extensive  architectural  exploits. 

The  next  building  monarch  after  David  was  his  grandson 
William  (i  165-12 14),  under  whom  the  pointed  style  was  defi- 
nitely introduced  into  the  Kingdom.  Some  fine  monuments 
of  this  period,  though  partly  ruined,  serve  to  illustrate  the  par- 
ticular development  of  the  Early  English  style  in  Scotland. 


INTRODUCTORY  5 

Under  William's  son  and  grandson,  Alexander  II.  and  III., 
the  pointed  style  was  carried  on  with  great  richness  and 
breadth,  especially  in  the  reign  of  the  latter  (1248-86),  under 
whom  the  finest  specimens  of  Gothic  in  the  realm  were 
erected. 

This  gradual  expansion  and  steady  growth  in  architectural 
development,  which  had  covered  some  two  hundred  years  and 
had  raised  the  building  art  in  the  kingdom  from  a  state  of  crude 
barbarity  to  one  of  refinement  and  even  of  splendour,  met  a 
severe  check  at  the  interregnum  and  the  outbreak  of  King 
Edward's  wars. 

Scores  of  monastic  edifices  were  totally  demolished  by  the 
English  armies,  others  only  partially  wrecked ;  some  of  these 
were  restored,  others  not ;  but  the  monastic  architecture  of  the 
lowlands  in  particular  was  in  a  frightful  state  of  dilapidation 
when  peace  was  at  length  reestablished  by  King  Robert  the 
Bruce. 

The  resources  of  the  Kino:dom  seem  to  have  been  drawn 
upon  to  a  large  extent  by  the  Bruce  to  restore  again  to  their 
pristine  beauty  the  shrines  of  the  low  countries  that  had  suf- 
fered most  from  the  ravau^es  of  war. 

At  this  stage  it  was  that  the  decorated  style  of  ICngland 
and  the  flowing  style  of  I'raiice  found  llieir  way  to  Seotland, 
and  though  the  projjortion  of  the  former  is  naturally  much 
the   larger,   there    are    elements    in    the   Scottish    architecture   of 


6  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

this  period,  in  the  sculptured  details  of  its  more  decorative  por- 
tions, that  are  plainly  not  of  English  origin,  and  find  their 
only  counterpart  in  the  work  of  the  French  Gothic  artists. 
Some  of  the  loveliest  architectural  bits  of  this  age  are  to  be 
found  among  the  ruins  of  the  abbeys  that  Bruce  restored  at  a 
time  when  Scotland  was  all  alive  with  the  glow  of  returning 
national  life  and  with  a  religious  fervour  that  had  not  existed 
since  the  days  of  the  saintly   King  David. 

It  was  at  the  beginning  of  this  epoch  that  the  societies  of 
freemasons,  commissioned  by  the  Pope  and  sent  abroad  from 
Italy  and  France  all  over  Christendom  to  build  religious  edifices, 
reached  the  North.  Their  influence  is  noticed  in  the  improved 
character  of  the  construction,  in  the  careful  working  of  the 
materials,  and  in  the  refinements  of  carving. 

The  advent  of  the  house  of  Stuart  to  the  Scottish  throne 
was  not  marked  by  any  activity  in  architecture  that  corresponded 
to  the  contemporary  changes  in  England  that  produced  the 
perpendicular.  A  few  isolated  examples  of  this  work  can  be 
found  on  Scottish  soil,  but  these  are  distinctly  of  English 
origin. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  monarchy  as  an  independent  govern- 
ment, various  restorations  were  made  in  a  weak  and  feeble  way 
to  repair  the  devastation  of  Henry  VIII.'s  crushing  campaign, 
but  by  this  time  the  Reformation  was  upon  Scotland  and  the 
Church  was  soon  torn  up  by  its  very  roots.     Naught  remained 


INTRODUCTORY  7 

of  most  of  the  abbeys  but  heaps  of  ruins.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  conform  a  few  of  them  to  the  requirements  of  the 
new  faith  by  housing  in  a  transept  or  chapter  house,  better 
preserved  than  the  rest ;  but  in  a  majority  of  cases  the  ruined 
buildings  became  the  quarries  for  their  several  neighbourhoods, 
and  the  portions  that  remain  to  us  were  spared  only  because 
the  supply  of  material  was  greater  than  the  demand  for  it. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  history  of  Scotland's  abbeys. 
There  is  in  this  mediaeval  architecture  of  Scotland  a  certain 
originality  that  clothes  it  with  special  charm.  Uncontrolled  by 
the  rigid  and  logical  laws  of  development  which,  combined 
with  extreme  refinement,  gave  to  French  Gothic  its  chief 
beauty,  quite  free  from  the  lines  of  greater  freedom  that 
guided  the  advance  of  the  Gothic  style  across  the  border,  it 
pursued  a  course  purely  individual,  and  reached  a  goal  very 
different  from  and  in  many  respects  inferior  to  cither,  but  in 
its  way  quite  as  interesting.  It  did  not  depend  absolutely 
upon  either  of  these  sources  for  general  methods  of  design  or 
treatment  oi  detail,  but,  borrowing  generously  from  both, 
evolved  new  motives. 

Nor  did  it  follow  closely  in  time  the  march  of  transition 
and  growth  oi  architecture  in  these  countries,  ])ut  set  a  j^ace 
of  its  own,  which  varied  in  the  several  parts  of  the  Kingdom. 
Certain  elements  remain  constant  through  all  jx'riods  of  de- 
velopment:   the    semicircular    arch,    for    instance,    is    persistent 


8  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 

from  first  to  last ;  the  Norman  arch  embellished  with  true 
Gothic  mouldings  is  the  commonest  form  of  portal  in  all  these 
abbeys. 

An  interesting  feature  of  these  ruined  abbeys  is  the  absence 
of  modern  restorations.  In  France  and  England  almost  all  the 
finer  examples  of  medioeval  architecture  have  become  national 
monuments,  restored  in  every  part ;  or  are  preserved,  as  Ruskin 
says,  as  mere  specimens  of  the  Middle  Ages,  put  on  a  velvet 
carpet  of  green-shaven  lawn  to  be  looked  at,  and  which,  but 
for  their  size,  might  just  as  well  be  put  on  a  museum  shelf 
at  once. 

In  Scotland  the  ruins  are  usually  given  simply  sufficient 
protection  and  support  to  secure  them  from  further  decay,  and 
stand,  "  feebly  and  fondly  garrulous  of  better  days "  it  is  true ; 
but  still  playing  a  role  in  history  as  in  the  natural  landscape. 
In  many  cases  they  still  live  among  the  people,  brooding  over 
little  hamlets,  full  of  pathos,  eloquent  of  history,  the  connecting 
link  between  the  past  and  present. 

The  almost  universal  use  of  these  ruined  abbeys  as  places 
of  interment  for  the  families  of  the  local  gentry  and  the  con- 
sequent crowding  of  the  interiors  with  graves  and  monumental 
slabs  is  in  keeping  with  the  general  practice  throughout  Great 
Britain. 

This  custom,  which  recalls  the  remark  of  Cardinal  Newman, 
is    doubtless    partly  the    outgrowth    of    that    admirable   love   for 


INTRODUCTORY  9 

the  church  edifice  which  seems  to  animate  the  British  people, 
but  it  is  one  which,  when  carried  to  excess,  most  Englishmen 
deplore.  There  must  be  a  limit  somewhere  to  the  capacity  of 
these  abbeys,  as  even  of  Westminster  itself,  for  the  tombs 
of  succeeding  generations  of  worthies  and  unworthies.  Many 
of  these  tombs  are  a  great  disfigurement  to  these  splendid 
monuments  which  we  would  think  ought  to  be  preserved  and 
kept  as  the  glorious  heritage  of  our  whole  race  regardless  of 
titles  or  of  land  tenures. 


CHAPTER    II 

lONA 

Far  beyond  the  highlands  of  the  West,  beyond  the  peaks 
of  Mull  and  "  lonely  Colonsay,"  where  the  storms  of  Atlantic 
rage  and  the  southern  current  brings  tribute  from  the  western 
world,  girt  about  with  eddying  tides  and  whirlpools,  beset  with 
hidden  reefs  and  rugged  rocks  where  myriad  sea-fowl  rest,  lies 
the  tiny  isle  of  lona,  long  known  by  its  Celtic  names  as  I,  Hy, 
or  Inchcolm-Kill. 

For  upwards  of  a  thousand  years  this  bleak  islet  —  one  of 
Britain's  bulwarks  against  the  surges  of  the  western  sea  —  was 
one  of  the  chiefest  religious  centres  of  the  North  of  Europe, 
the  goal  of  great  pilgrimages  from  every  kingdom,  the  hallowed 
resting-place  of  monarchs  of  many  nations ;  for  here  had  lived 
and  died  a  saint  of  great  repute,  not  only  father  of  the  Celtic 
Church  in  Scotia,  but  a  founder  of  non-Romish  Christianity 
in  the  West. 

During  the  long  centuries  of  the  Middle  Ages  thousands 
of  sail  set  yearly  toward  this  distant  shrine :  the  tiny  skiffs 
of   devoted   pilgrims,  the  majestic  ships  of   chiefs  and  Vikings, 

lO 


lONA  1 1 

and   sombre    barges   bearing   the   mortal    remains   of    kings    to 
their  interment  on  the  holy  isle. 

Here  was  not  only  the  sacred  shrine  of  St.  Columba  and 
a  congregation  of  holy  men  who  made  this  secure  retreat  their 
home  and  a  centre  of  widespread  missionary  labour  among  the 
half-wild  tribes  of  Britain,  but  a  great  institution  of  learning, 
which  through  the  blackness  of  the  Dark  Ages  trimmed  the 
lamp  of  knowledge  and  cherished  the  flame  until  it  shone  as 
the  brightest  spot  in  Europe  —  an  island  lighthouse  in  a  long 
night  of  world-wide  ignorance  and  superstition.  While  Rome, 
crushed  and  laid  waste  by  hordes  of  invading  tribes  of  Lom- 
bards and  Saracens,  was  struggling  to  avert  utter  annihilation, 
and  the  Roman  Church  languished  under  oppression  and  mis- 
government;  while  Spain  writhed  under  Moorish  invasion;  while 
France  was  torn  Ijy  faction  wars  among  Merowings  and  Carl- 
ings,  and  England  suffered  constant  feuds  and  warfare  between 
the  petty  chiefs  of  the  Heptarchy;  while  invasion,  sack,  pillage, 
aiKJ  plunder  were  the  order  of  the  day,  and  the  history  of 
Europe  is  one  long  chapter  of  violence  and  crime,  the  little 
Inland  of  luna  offered  a  refuge  to  all  who  were  weary  of  the 
ceaseless  turmoil,  a  fountain  of  learning  to  the  studious,  and 
a  religious  retreat  to  the  devoutly  inclined.  Little  wonder 
that  a  few  feet  of  this  ])eaceful  soil  were  coveted  by  great 
monarclis  for  a  hnal  resting-place;  little  doubt  that  all,  of  every 
degree,   who    sought    refreshment    to    the   soul    or    food    foi-    the 


12  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 

mind,  and  could  find  means  of  reaching  it,  came  to  this  won- 
drous fountain  and  storehouse  of  every  good  thing. 

It  was  in  the  year  563  that  St.  Columba  with  his  twelve 
devout  companions  set  sail  from  Christian  Ireland  for  pagan 
Scotland  and  beached  their  bark,  to  which  they  had  given  the 
name  of  CuricJi,  within  a  little  bay  on  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  island,  called  from  the  name  of  St.  Columba's  boat, 
Port-na-Curriach.  Tradition  has  it  that  the  saint  first  set  foot 
upon  a  great  boulder  of  beautiful  greenish  hue,  a  portion  of 
which  is  preserved  at  the  shrine ;  but  the  storms  of  centuries 
have  broken  the  rock  into  thousands  of  emerald  fragments  and 
strewn  them  along  the  beach,  and  the  natives  of  to-day  prize 
them  highly  as  charms  against  drowning.  The  island,  which 
historians  tell  us  had  long  been  a  centre  of  Druidical  worship 
and  the  scene  of  the  most  horrible  heathen  rites  and  orgies, 
was  a  suitable  spot  in  which  to  set  up  the  cross  and  establish 
a  religion  of  peace  and  gentleness.  Fortified  by  nature  against 
the  attacks  of  enemies,  it  afforded  far  greater  protection  to  the 
saintly  company,  who,  even  in  their  poverty  and  simplicity, 
would  easily  have  fallen  prey  to  the  violence  of  some  untamed 
tribe,  than  any  spot  upon  the  mainland. 

He  was  no  ordinary  saint,  like  the  multitude  of  canonized 
personages  who  preached  the  Gospel  in  Britain  in  the  primitive 
days  of  Christianity,  that  landed  on  this  little  isle  in  the  mid- 
dle   of    the    sixth   century.     In    the    history    of    Britain,    nay,  of 


lONA 


^3 


Europe  in  those  times,  tlie  figure  of  St.  Coluniba  stands  out 
in  clear-cut  lines  undiminished  by  any  shade  of  mythical 
miracle  workings,  matchless  for  strength  and  spiritual  beauty. 
"  There  came  into  Britain  from  Ireland,"  wrote  the  Venerable 
Bede  less  than  a  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  the  saint, 
"  a  famous  priest  and  abbot,  a  monk  by  habit  and  life,  whose 
name  was  Columba,  to  preach  the  Word  of  God:  a  perfect 
sage,  believing  in  Christ,  learned,  chaste,  and  charitable ;  he 
was  noble,  he  was  gentle,  he  was  the  physician  of  the  heart 
of  every  sage,  a  shelter  to  the  naked,  a  consolation  to  the 
poor;  there  went  not  from  the  world  one  who  was  more  con- 
stant in  the  remembrance  of  the  Cross." 

Wonderful  words  these,  a  true  pen  portrait  of  a  true  saint, 
though  made  twelve  hundred  years  ago,  a  vivid  contrast  to 
the  ordinary  "Lives"  of  mediaeval  saints,  those  garish  ])ictures 
for  the  credulous,  almost  grotesque  in  their  unintentional  cari- 
catures. 

Columba  had  left  Ireland  confident  that  the  island  was 
in  safe  hands  and  its  evangelization  assured.  He  set  his  face 
toward  a  field  almost  untouched  by  Christian  inlluence,  one 
that  opened  a  boundless  exjiansc  for  missionary  zeal ;  for, 
tlKHigh  the  l.ibours  of  St.  Ninian,  a  fourth-century  saint,  had 
sown  seed  .iiid  borne  ffiiit  on  the  shores  of  Solway  I'ii'th  and 
in  parts  of  Lolhian,  the  greater  part  of  North  Britain  still 
remained  in  heathen  darkness. 


14  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

It  was  St.  Columba's  plan  to  despatch  his  ministers  singly 
and  in  various  directions  to  bear  the  tidings  of  Christianity 
and  to  establish  religious  settlements  wherever  possible  ui)on 
the  mainland,  with  their  head  and  centre  at  lona;  to  keep  a 
constant  supply  of  monks  at  home  for  the  training  of  younger 
men  for  the  broader  fields  of  labour,  and  to  maintain  the  dignity 
of  the  parent  church. 

The  intention  of  St.  Columba  was  speedily  fulfilled,  and  far 
more  brilliantly  than  he  could  possibly  have  foreseen.  Within 
a  hundred  years  after  St.  Columba's  death  religious  "cells," 
dependencies  of  lona,  had  been  established  over  all  Scotland 
from  north  to  south  and  well  into  Northumbria  and  Cumber- 
land, and  many  of  the  early  labourers  had  been  canonized  by 
Rome,  of  whom  St.  Cuthbert  of  Durham  and  vSt.  Aidan,  the 
converter  of  Northumbria,  are  the  most  familiarly  known.  St. 
Columba  lived  and  laboured  some  four  and  thirty  years  at  lona 
and  fell  on  sleep,  but  not  until  his  feet  had  blessed  the  mountains 
of  western  Caledon  and  a  hundred  isles  of  the  sea.  The  rude 
and  slender  craft  of  the  special  patron  saint  of  mariners  and 
those  of  his  followers,  hewn  from  hollowed  lofjs  or  fashioned 
with  wattles  and  skins,  sailed  from  rockbound  isle  to  frowning 
;;/;///  and  penetrated  the  deep  /cy/es  or  estuaries  of  that  rugged 
coast,  until  the  frail  cockles  with  their  symbolical  cross-form 
rigging  were  known  and  welcomed  by  the  savage  Picts,  and  it 
became  possible  to  set  up  religious  retreats  upon  the  mainland. 


lONA  1 5 

These  primitive  religious  settlements  were  at  first  purely 
eremitical,  that  is,  the  monk  lived  in  the  cell  which  he  had 
made  and  ministered  to  the  needs  spiritual  of  the  people 
about  him  without  assistance.  Remains,  and  even  preserved 
specimens  of  these  bee-hive-shaped  and  simple  cells  are  not 
wanting  in  various  parts  of  Scotland  and  in  the  scattered 
islands  of  the  Hebrides.  The  hermit  monks  came  to  be 
known  as  Culdees,  a  word  variously  derived  from  the  Gaelic 
ccile  De,  "  servant  of  God,"  and  from  the  Latin  cultor  Dei, 
"  worshipper  of  God."  It  was  not  until  later  years  that  monas- 
teries were  founded  for  and  peopled  by  Culdees.  In  the  seventh 
century  we  find  St.  Blane  founding  a  Columban  "house"  at 
Dunl^lanc,  in  tlie  ninth  King  Kenneth  McAlpin  establishing 
one  at  Dunkeld,  and  in  the  eleventh  King  Malcolm  Canmore 
establishing  a  monastery  for  thirteen  Culdees  at  Dunfermline. 

The  monastery  at  lona  during  the  first  three  hundred  years 
of  its  existence  enjoyed  the  most  tranc|uil  j^rosperity  and  reached 
the  distinction   to  which   we  have  ahx'ady  alluded. 

To  this  retreat  of  saintly  men,  to  this  home  of  learning,  as 
we  learn  from  the  chronicler  I'ordun,  were  sent  the  young 
princes  of  Pictish  royalty,  sometimes  for  the  laying  on  of 
lioly  hands,  sometimes  to  l)e  trained  and  educated  for  the 
duties  of  state.  Brude  was  the  first  Bictish  king  to  listen  to 
Colunil)a's  words,  and  I  )onal(his  was  taken  as  a  hid  to  be 
blessed  by   the  aged   saint. 


1 6  SCOTLAND'S   RUINFD   ABBEYS 

It  was  in  tliis  way  that  In  the  history  of  barbaric  Scotia 
of  this  time  there  now  and  again  appears  the  figure  of  a  king 
superior  to  his  wild  surroundings.  And  it  was  to  these  lona- 
nurturcd  monarchs  that  was  due  the  gradual  enlightenment  of 
the  Pictish  tribes,  the  founding  of  a  kingdom  that  a  century 
or  two  later  took  important  rank  among  the  nations  of  Europe. 
The  religious  colony  of  St.  Columba's  founding  waxed  rich 
and  ]3owerful  through  the  munificence  of  kings  of  many  realms, 
even  durino-  the  first  abbots  lifetime.  Its  fame  and  influence 
spread  with  rapid  strides,  until  saints  and  sages  flocked  to  its 
blest  retreat  from  distant  shores.  As  a  centre  of  learning 
lona  was  second  to  none  during  the  period  while  ancient 
classic  lore  was  being  supplanted  by  the  Christian  philosophy 
of  the  Church  fathers.  Many  were  the  books  and  manuscripts 
that  the  industrious  monks  and  their  pupils  laboriously  tran- 
scribed and  richly  illuminated  with  matchless  skill.  Some  of 
these  escaped  the  ruin  of  later  years  and  have  come  down 
to  us:  one  of  them,  preserved  in  the  Museum  of  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  is  a  Book  of  Gospels  inscribed  in  the  saintly 
characters  of  Columba's  own  hand.  As  a  school,  the  abbey 
of  lona  had  great  renown,  and  we  have  record  that  there  were 
often  from  three  to  five  hundred  students  receiving  instruction 
within  its  walls. 

The  cenobites,  however,  were  more  than  preachers  or 
teachers :    they    were    experienced    navigators,    ploughing    the 


lONA  17 

unknown  seas  in  their  frail  barks  to  discover  Iceland  and  the 
far  Faroe  Islands.  They  were  agriculturists,  maintaining  a 
large  population  within  their  little  realm  by  the  careful  culti- 
vation of  its  stony  soil.  They  were  architects,  raising  extensive 
edifices  in  that  rude  style  adapted  in  barbaric  fashion  from 
the  principles  of  building  art  introduced  into  Britain  by  the 
Romans,  of  which,  unfortunately,  almost  no  vestige  remains  in 
all  Great  Britain. 

lona  continued  to  be  the  burial-place  of  Pictish  royalty  even 
as  it  had  been  in  older  pagan  times.  The  bodies  of  kings  from 
Fergus  to  Kenneth  McAlpin  all  lie  here,  while  monarchs  of 
Ireland,  Norway,  and  even  France  were  brought  hither  over 
distant  seas. 

W^ith  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century  the  tide  of  war 
and  devastation  that  so  long  had  smothered  l'"uroi)e  swei)t 
wildly  toward  Columba's  peaceful  isle  and  broke  with  fury 
upon  the  sacred  strand  where  the  Vikings'  ships  were  moored. 
In  .S02,  in  the  time  of  Abbot  Connachtack,  while  Charlemagne 
was  being  crowned  at  Rome  and  establishing  a  new  empire, 
and  the  Church  of  Rome  was  taking  fresh  h()])e  therefrom,  the 
Norsemen  swo()i)e(l  down  upon  the  retreat,  slew  the  defenceless 
cenobites,  burnt  their  rliunh  and  home,  nnd  ranicd  oil  the 
sacred  store  of  \'oII\t  oriciin--,  the  L;ifls  of  long  lint-s  of  kings. 
After  this  attack  the  coloin-  was  reestablished,  (mi1\-  to  \n-  de- 
stroyed  again  in  808.  .Again  the  successors  of  St.  Columba 
c 


iS  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABB1':YS 

took  fresh  heart,  and  under  Abbot  Cellah  began  a  church  of 
stone,  as  we  are  told,  with  a  stronger,  more  defensible  residence. 

In  this  they  found  safe  retreat  for  twenty  years,  until  a  third 
visit  from  piratical  hordes  levelled  the  monastery  with  the 
ground.  Little  is  recorded  of  the  Columban  isle  for  many 
years  after  this  blow.  The  chief  centre  of  the  Pictish  Church 
was  now  removed  to  Dunkeld  by  Kenneth,  king  of  the  united 
Picts  and  Scots,  and  lona,  we  may  surmise,  became  but  a 
simple  cell. 

That  a  religious  seat  was  maintained  on  the  island  we 
may  be  sure,  for  the  list  of  the  Columban  abbots  preserves 
an  unbroken  line  through  all  these  years  of  strife,  and  the 
sacred  shrine  of  St.  Columba,  though  sadly  ruined,  kept  a  truce 
between  Norseman  and  Islander  when  a  Pictish  or  Scottish  king 
died,  for  royal  burials  were  still  performed  at  the  holy  isle. 

But  lona  was  now  in  the  grasp  of  the  Norsemen,  and  a 
part  of  the  Norwegian  Kingdom  of  the  Isles.  The  Columban 
Church,  no  more  an  object  of  pirates'  greed,  was  no  longer 
harassed  by  the  sea-rovers,  but  no  more  was  it  cherished  or 
fostered  by  them.  In  1074  we  hear  of  Margaret,  the  sainted 
queen  of  Malcolm  III.,  making  gifts  to  the  shrine  for  rebuild- 
ing the  abbey. 

There  appears  to  have  been  considerable  activity  upon  the 
island  from  this  time,  while  the  powerful  Malcolm  Canmore 
held  the  Norsemen  at  bay,  until  that  monarch's  death.     Almost 


lONA  19 

nothing  is  recorded  of  the  abbey  at  lona  during  the  first  fifty 
years  of  the  twelfth  century,  until  the  Pictish  natives  of  the 
isle  began  to  rebel  under  the  rule  of  Godred,  their  Norwegian 
king,  and  called  upon  Somerled,  king  of  Argyle,  to  assist  them 
in  throwing  off  his  burdensome  yoke.  In  1165  a  great  battle 
was  fought  between  the  Picts  and  Norwegians,  which  ended 
the  sway  of  Godred  over  the  inner  Hebrides  and  freed  lona 
from  foreign  oppression. 

With  the  accession  of  David  I.,  the  supremacy  of  Rome  had 
been  established  in  Scotland,  and  the  Culdees  wherever  estab- 
lished had  been  forced  to  make  room  for  "  reoular "  canons, 
just  as  the  Saxon  clergy  in  England  had  to  give  way  to  Norman 
successors. 

Latin  names,  like  Johan-nes  and  Celcstinus,  take  the  place 
of  the  Celtic  Dunchadh  or  Innrechtach  u})on  the  lists  of  the 
abbots,  and  the  whole  character  of  the  church  becomes  Latinized. 
Rome,  for  many  centuries  not  unfavourable  to  the  Coluniban 
Church,  now  began  to  grow  wary  of  its  growth  and  took  gradual 
steps  to  suppress  it. 

The  Culdees,  too,  on  the  mainland  were  themselves  learning 
"regular"  ways  and  began  in  lose  their  iiidix  i(hialit\',  but  at 
Columba's  shrine,  and  on  llic  islands  of  the  West,  the  non-Roinish 
Church  held  its  own  for  nearly  a  liundied  years,  while  the  Col- 
unibites  were  ])romptly  ousted  fioni  tlicir  new  centre  at  Dunkeld 
and   replaced  by  an  .Anglo-Norman   bishoj),  canons,  and  chaj)tei". 


20  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

In  1 202  Reginald,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  son  or  grandson  of 
old  Somerled  who  had  wrested  lona  from  Norwegian  sway,  a 
faithful  vassal  of  William  the  Lion  King,  trained  at  court  in 
the  ways  of  the  new  Scottish  Church,  rebuilt  the  crumbling 
walls  of  lona's  abbey  and  established  under  the  same  roof  with 
the  original  colony  a  chapter  of  Black  Friars  or  Benedictine 
Monks.  A  year  later  a  deed  of  confirmation  was  sent  by  Pope 
John  to  Celestinus,  abbot  of  St.  Columba,  on  Hy.  The  Celtic 
community  gradually  adopted  Benedictine  rule  and  was  ab- 
sorbed in  the  new  monastic  establishment.  Thus  the  all- 
engulfing  power  of  Rome  swallowed  up  the  remnant  of 
Columba's  ancient  church  npon  lona.  What  was  the  fate  of 
its  dependencies  in  Wales  and  in  the  islands  of  the  North,  and 
how  it  is  connected  with  the  future  growth  of  the  English 
and  Scottish  church,  it  is  not  within  the  province  of  this  rapid 
sketch  to  discuss.  So  far  as  lona  is  concerned,  the  church  of 
St.  Columba  from  this  date  falls  into  line  with  the  innumer- 
able host  of  English  and  Scottish  abbeys  as  a  regular  monastic 
institution. 

In  the  same  year  with  the  founding  of  the  Benedictine 
Abbey  of  lona,  the  Lord  of  the  Isles  established  on  the  island 
a  convent  for  nuns  of  the  order  of  vSt.  Augustine,  and  Beatrice, 
his  sister,  became  first  abbess  of  this  second  institution,  only 
a  stone's  throw  from  Columba's  shrine.  No  vestige,  of  course, 
remains    of    the    material    church    of    St.    Columba's   day.      We 


lONA  2 1 

cannot  be  sure  that  it  was  built  of  endurino:  stuff.  That 
there  was  a  church  building  besides  monastic  edifices  we 
know  from  the  writings  of  St.  Adamnan,  a  successor  of  St. 
Columba  only  seventy  years  later,  which  mention  the  monks 
going  from  one  to  the  other,  and  describe  the  divine  vision 
and  death  of  St.  Columba  before  the  high  altar. 

Of  the  later  edifice  built  in  stone  by  Abbot  Cellach,  no 
trace  has  yet  been  discovered ;  even  St.  Oran's  Chapel,  long 
considered  to  be  the  sole  remnant  of  St.  Margaret's  restora- 
tions, is  now  believed  to  be  of  later  date. 

The  earliest  remains  traceable,  then,  belong  to  Lord  Regi- 
nalds buildings,  and  these  are  very  fragmentary.  They  con- 
sist of  a  fair  portion  of  the  convent  chapel  and  a  small  bit  of 
stonework  in  the  transept  of  the  abbey. 

Both  buildings  are  situated  on  the  eastern  slope  of  a  low- 
line  of  hills  which  afford  almost  no  shelter  from  the  bleak 
westerly  and  northerly  winds. 

To  the  east  the  site  looks  across  the  turbulent  water  ot 
lona  Sound,  dotted  with  black  rocks  and  little  islets  around 
which  the  surf  breaks  in  Inroad  wliilc  frinf^cs.  y\far  off  one 
may  descry  the  lofty  df)me  of  lien  More  towering  into  the 
clouds  from  tlie  isle  of  Mull,  and  in  the  opposite  direction  lln' 
"  Cool  in  Mills  of  Skyc"  rise  ethereal  amoni;  llie  ever  present 
clouds.  \vlii(  h  drift  majestically  by,  now  veiling,  now  revealing, 
their  purple,  craggy  peaks. 


2  2  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

Aside  from  tlie  sweeping  grandeur  of  the  inspiring  view 
there  is  little  of  beauty  in  the  actual  site  of  St.  Columba's 
abbey  or  Lord  Reginald's  convent.  Between  the  two  lies 
Reilig  Odhrain,  an  almost  level  stretch  of  ground  thickly  cov- 
ered with  gravestones  and  monumental  slabs.  These  represent 
almost  every  age  of  Pictish,  Scottish,  and  English  art-history, 
from  the  curiously  wrought  carvings  of  the  Celtic  slabs  to  the 
mail-clad  warriors  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  even  down  to 
modern  gravestones.  Here  rests  the  dust,  so  we  are  told,  of 
forty-eight  kings  of  Scotland,  eight  kings  of  Norway,  four 
kings  of  Ireland,  and  one  of  France,  besides  countless  numbers 
of  chiefs  and  clansmen. 

Along  the  way  from  this  ancient  place  of  burial  to  the 
abbey  are  a  few  remnants  of  the  Celtic  crosses  for  which 
the  island  was  once  so  famous.  One  of  these,  called  St.  Mar- 
tins Cross,  still  intact  with  its  intricate  and  characteristic 
ornament,  stands  solitary  in  front  of  the  abbey,  some  sixty  of 
its  brothers  having  been  thrown  into  the  sea  by  the  Reformers, 
while  several  hundred  others  have  disappeared  in  unknown 
ways  from  the  island  since  the  palmy  days  of  Celtic  Christian- 
ity. Some  thirty  still  exist  on  the  mainland,  having  been 
carried  from   lona  to  Argyleshire  centuries  ago. 

As  viewed  from  the  tombs  of  the  kings,  the  nunnery  pre- 
sents a  pile  of  late  Norman  fragments,  round  arched  and 
sturdy,    though    fallen   greatly    to    decay,    while    the    abbey,   far 


lONA 


23 


better  preserved,  raises  its  majestic  tower  of  steep  gables  in 
the  latest  style  of  the  Gothic.  On  approaching  the  abbey  we 
find  the  outer  walls  and  tower  of  the  church,  a  structure  of 
moderate  size,  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation.  The  edi- 
fice  consisted,  as    the   plan   indicates,  of   a   simple   sanctuary  to 


W^'- 

W^. 


jrfi.:.j^<-,  1^ 


lONA:   TIIK.  CONVENT  CHAl'KL   KROM   S.K. 


the  east,  a  long  choir  with  side  aisle  on  the  south  and  sacristy 
r)n  the  north,  |)rojecting  transepts  screened  off  from  the  c  hoir, 
and  a  long  nave  of  j)hiin  and  simj)le  design.  To  the  north 
stretches  a  well-preserved  fpiaflrangle  of  monastic  ])iiil(h'ngs, 
chapels,  chapter  house,  and  refectory,  and  l)eyon<i  these  a  ram- 
bling range  of  outer  structures  representing  the  various  offices 
of  the  monastery. 


24 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


The  choir,  from  its  ground  plan,  would  not  seem  to  pre- 
sent  any  new  or  peculiar  features,  but  the  moment  one  enters 
it  bv  the  narrow  doorway  in  the  late,  ill-built  screen,  he  sees 
that  this  is  no  usual  form  of  arrangement.     The  main  body  of 


A.   Sit.. 

F. 

Clolntor  Court. 

B.   Cbolr. 

0. 

AlitK.t'»  P.rlour 

O.C.   Tfvutftt. 

II. 

Cha|>tcr  llinu.r. 

D.   SacriMf. 

K. 

RofM-t'iry. 

CE.  South  Akla 

tv\ 


K 


m 


H- 


GROfNI)    IM.AN-    OK    THE   AHIiliY    OF   lONA. 


B. 


E. 


IT.-. 


the  choir  extends  somewhat  beyond  the  side  structure,  and  is 
lighted  on  three  sides  at  the  sanctuary  end,  as  is  common,  its 
east  windcnv  being  filled  with  a  late  form  of  decorated  tracery. 
But  the  side  aisle  to  the  south  and  the  sacristy  opposite  pre- 
sent remarkable  innovations,    most  interesting  to    study  despite 


lONA 


25 


the  fact  that  they  are  of  very  late  construction.  The  former 
consists  of  three  bays  divided  from  the  choir  by  two  piers  of 
circular  section  with  banded  capitals  richly  and  most  interest- 
ingly  though    crudely   carved.      The   aisle    is   spanned    by    two 


I 


-.KJR) 


THE  ABBEY  CHOIR,   I.OOKINC   EAST, 


low  flying  buttresses  heavily  weighted  at  the  tojx  sj^ringing 
from  near  the  ground  and  abutting  the  choir  wall  just  above 
the  cajjitals  of  the  jjiers.  These  low  arches  give  the  aisle  an 
extremely  depressed    and   ronfuu-d    appearance,   so   that   it   looks 


26  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

like  a  triforium  gallery  of  some  larger  churches,  but  the  mouldings 
of  the  under  side  of  the  low  arches,  conibined  with  the  carved 
capitals,  give  an  effect  of  greater  antiquity  than  the  ruin  can 
claim.  The  aisle  is  of  course  roofless  and  otherwise  damaged 
in  its  outer  walls,  but  it  is  still  a  very  interesting  development 
of  aisle  building,  and  raises  the  question  whether  or  not  the 
choir  itself  was  originally  intended  to  have  a  vault  which  these 
arches  were  meant  to  support. 

The  form  of  the  other  side  aisle  —  for  so  it  may  be  looked 
upon  in  plan —  is  even  more  unusual ;  it  consists  of  but  two 
bays  and  these  opposite  the  easternmost  bays  of  the  other 
aisle,  there  being  no  bay  adjoining  the  transept.  The  sacristy 
itself  was  a  low  apartment  opening  upon  the  choir  by  a  small, 
rather  richly  decorated  doorway.  Above  this  apartment  was 
a  lofty  gallery  opening  upon  the  choir  by  two  large  pointed 
arches  divided  by  a  tall  column.  This  is  described  by  archae- 
ologists as  a  "singing  gallery,"  and  is  a  feature  found  in  a 
number  of  late  churches  in  this  very  position  —  over  the 
sacristy. 

The  general  effect  of  the  choir,  then,  is  far  from  symmetri- 
cal, though  exceedingly  picturesque. 

The  transepts  project  well  on  either  side  and  have  no  aisles ; 
at  the  crossing  are  four  large  piers  which  support  the  cen- 
tral tower.  The  southern  arm  is  lighted  by  a  traceried  pointed 
window  of  good  size,  and   an   arch  ojDcns  into  the  choir  aisle  of 


lONA 


27 


the    two    screens    which    separate    the    transept   from    the   choir 
and  nave ;  that  to  the  east  is  modern. 

The  northern   arm   has   rather  more   architectural  character. 
In    its    east    wall    are    two   deep    chapels   with    a   small    deeply 


Sf)I    III    AI.SI.I-,    OK    Alilll'lV    CIIOIK,    I.'IOKIM;    WRST.       SMAI.I.    IkmiKW.W     |i>    CliHsllvK    <1N     I  111      KICIII. 


splayed  window  in  each  and  a  niche  hctwcrn  ilion.  'riirse 
cliapels  arc  provided  witii  en_<jja<ijc'd  colonettes  and  nionldnit^S. 
The   wall   at   this   point    is  extreme!)-   thi(  k,  and   its  constrnclion, 


28  SCOTIAXrvS    RUTNED    ABBEYS 

to<;clhcr  with  the  Icnvor  courses  of  the  towLM*  pier  adjoining, 
is  cjiiite  ditierent  from  that  of  the  other  portions  of  the  church. 
It  is  (jiiite  transitional  in  character  and  doubtless  dates  from 
the  first  Hcnedictine  structure  of  Lord  Reginald.  A  diminu- 
tive door  leads  from  the  transept  out  to  the  cloister  which  is 
particularly  interesting,  preserving,  as  it  does,  the  only  exist- 
ing cloister  arch  in  any  of  these  ruined  abbeys.  This  is  in 
the  southwestern  angle  of  the  court,  is  of  semicircular  form 
and  very  plain.  It  is  not  difficult  to  restore  in  the  mind's  eye 
the  full  rectangle  of  arcades  with  their  sloping  roof  of  wood, 
and  to  imagine  the  solemn  company  of  monks  as  they  took 
their  morning  constitutional  round  and  round  to  the  droning 
hum  of  Ave   Marias  and   Pater  Nosters. 

The  eastern  range  remains  entire  in  its  ground  story.  There 
is  adjoining  the  transept  a  small  apartment  with  a  fireplace, 
called,  from  this  rare  display  of  a  medium  of  comfort,  the 
abbot's  parlour. 

Next  to  this  comes  the  chapter  house,  which  consists  of 
a  sort  of  anteroom  which  constituted  the  original  chapter 
house,  and  a  longer  room  beyond,  separated  from  the  first  by 
two  arches  supported  by  a  column  and  provided  on  either  side 
with  a  row  of  four  niches  which  seem  to  have  answered  for 
stalls  or  seats  for  the  clergy.  This  building  retains  its  vault- 
ing and  is  believed  to  have  contained  the  scriptorium  or  the 
library  in   its   upper  story.     How  interesting  to  find    even    par- 


lONA 


29 


tially  preserved  the  treasure  house  of  that  great  collection  of 
books  which  in  its  day  had  almost  no  rival  in  Europe !  Ad- 
joining this  is  a  chamber  corresponding  to  the  abbot's  parlour, 
but  of  no  particular  interest. 

The  northern  range  of  the  cloister  is  almost  wholly  occu- 
pied by  a  long  building,  originally  two-storied  and  still  preserv- 
Mig  two  rows  of  windows,  which  was  doubtless  the  refectory. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  lower  floor  consisted  of 
storerooms,  and  that  the  refectory  was  above,  where  the  win- 
dows are  quite  large  and  fine. 

Opposite  this  building  is  the  long  plain  wall  of  the  nave. 
This  is  the  least  interesting  part  of  the  ruin.  It  is  of  simplest 
plan,  aisleless,  poorly  built,  and  altogether  of  poor  and  late  work- 
manship. To  the  left  of  the  fa9ade  are  two  more  interesting 
little  structures,  the  first  a  diminutive  chamber  with  a  tiny  look- 
out window,  called  the  porters  lodge,  and  it  may  readily  have 
answered  such  a  purpose. 

Next  to  this  is  a  small  chapel  quite  unattractive  but  for 
two  much  dilapidated  sarcophagi  of  stone  which  the  natives  of 
the  island  love  to  dignify  as  the  coffins  of  St.  Columba  and 
his  faithful  servant,  Diarmaid.  The  coffins  have  certainly  an 
appearance  of  great  age,  but  the  student  is  rather  sceptical  of 
their  immediate   connection   with   the   great   saint. 

Their  kjcaticjn  alone  would  cast  suspicicjii  upon  ihcir  au- 
thenticity. 


30  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 

Far  toward  the  north  stretclics  a  miscellaneous  collection 
of  buildinos  of  different  aufes.  That  nearest  the  refectory  is 
called  the  kitchen,  the  use  of  the  others  is  not  even  hinted  at. 

Almost  all  of  the  work  as  it  stands  is  of  fifteenth-century 
and  sixteenth-century  style  and  construction,  though  this  may 
have  been  carried  out  on  plans  of  great  antiquity.  Most  of 
this  work  was  done  at  about  the  time  that  lona  Abbey  became 
the  seat  of  the  See  of  the  Isles  and  was  elevated  to  the  rank 
of  a  cathedral. 

lona  escaped  the  greatest  part  of  the  Reformation  troubles 
and  fell  to  ruins  by  the  unaided  hands  of  time  and  weather. 
This  would  at  once  be  imagined  when  we  stand  at  a  distance 
from  the  abbey  on  the  rocky  eminence  to  the  south,  for  the 
old  cathedral  willi  its  far  extending  buildings,  its  unbroken 
walls,  its  fine  battlemented  tower  with  its  great  square  windows 
of  plate  tracery,  appears  almost  intact  but  for  its  roofs.  The 
tower  just  mentioned  is  one  of  unusual  picturesqueness  and 
grace,  and  the  tracery  of  the  belfry  windows,  patterned  in  vari- 
ous geometrical   designs,   is  well   worthy  of  notice. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  abbey  was  spared  the  fury  of  the 
Reformers,  and  that  there  has  been  little  temptation  to  turn  it 
into  a  quarry,  because  its  neighbours  are  so  few  and  so  far  away. 

We  cannot  leave  lona  without  special  notice  of  its  sculp- 
ture. This,  though  sparingly  used,  is  extremely  quaint,  and  in 
its   crudeness    and    its    use    of   animal    forms  and  grotesqueness 


lONA 


31 


would  suggest  a  Romanesque  origin ;  but  any  such  theory 
must  be  abandoned  when  we  examine  the  structure  of  the  archi- 
tecture of  which  it  is  a  part,  which  is  undeniably  of  late,  even 
very  late,  date.  The  subjects  represent  many  scenes  from  Scrip- 
ture story,  and  are  treated  in  a  light,  gay  manner  which  is  quite 
amusing.     Where  foliage   is   employed  it   is  also  very  much   in 


^m^^^ 


^^<^^ics^. 


WW.   AI!l;iA'    AM)    ST.    ORAN's   CMArKI.    KKOM    TIIK.    II  ll.LSIDK. 

the  style  of  Norman  work,  and  it  is  difficnilt  to  assii;n  a  reason 
for  the  late  apj)carance  here  of  such  old  forms  unless  wc  con- 
clude that  the  scul]iturc  is  purely  a  jiroduct  of  lona's  soil,  where 
ancient  Celtic  car\iiiL;-  ;iiul  later  Noimaii  worknum.ship  were  lo 
the   insular  artists   their  only   insj^iration. 

Between    tin     al)l)ey    and    tlie    landing    lie    two    buildini^s    of 
considerable     interest.       The    fust     is    St.    ( )rairs     Chapel,    long 


32  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

believed,  as  we  liave  said,  to  be  the  sole  remnant  of  Queen 
Margarets  restoration  upon  the  island.  It  is  a  simple  gabled 
structure  of  oblong  plan  with  a  heavily  moulded,  round-arched 
doorwav,  which  misled  the  older  archaeologists  to  connect  its 
construction  with  that  of  the  little  chapel  of  St.  Margaret  at 
Edinburgh  Castle;  but  a  closer  examination  will  show  the 
impossibility  of  the  comparison.  Within  the  chapel  are  a  num- 
ber of  decorated  niche  tombs  of  abbots  and  temporal  lords, 
and  its  floor  was  originally  covered  with  grave  slabs.  The 
chapel  cannot  be  earlier  than  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. 

Further  alone:  on  our  return  to  the  harbour  stand  the  scant 
ruins  of  the  convent,  where  heaps  of  foundations  show  the  lines 
and  extent  of  the  original  structure.  All  that  remains  of  the 
little  abbey  is  in  the  late  Norman  or  early  transitional  style, 
and  shows  what  the  form  and  style  of  the  other  abbey  must 
have  been  in  the  founder's  time.  The  only  portion  of  interest 
is  the  little  church  building,  of  which  a  small  part  remains  in- 
tact. It  consisted  of  a  nave  with  a  single  aisle  to  the  north, 
separated  from  the  main  body  of  the  church  by  a  round-arched 
arcade  resting  upon  columns  of  plain  Norman  design.  The 
clerestory,  which  was  superposed  immediately  above  the  main 
arcade,  had  windows  of  very  small  proportions  over  each  of  the 
columns  and  not  over  the  arches  as  was  the  usual  plan.  To 
the   east   was   a   small    square   vaulted    com])artment    which    an- 


lONA 


33 


swered  the  purpose  of  a  sanctuary.  The  remains  of  the  vault 
are  plainly  visible,   though  it  has  long  been  destroyed. 

Beside  the  sanctuary  in  a  diminutive  chapel  is  a  curious 
efifigy  marking  the  tomb  of  the  last  abbess,  Anna,  who  had 
given  her  substance  to  the  tottering  convent  in  vain. 

This  establishment  was  done  away  with  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation,  and  seems  to  have  suffered  some  violence  which 
for  some  unknown  reason  w^as  spared  the  cathedral. 

The  day  of  pilgrimages  to  lona  has  returned.  During  all 
the  summer  hundreds  of  interested  tourists,  and  some  less 
interested,  flock  from  all  lands  to  see  the  remnant  of  St. 
Columba's  great  abbey,  and  within  a  few  years  extensive  cele- 
brations of  Columban  anniversaries  have  been  held  upon  the 
island,  in  which  Catholics  and  Protestants  took  part,  each  on 
their  appointed  day.  Again  the  uncovered  host,  the  u])]iftcd 
chalice,  the  solemn  words  of  the  mass,  have  blessed  tlu'  l)lcak 
uncovered  walls  of  the  abbey  ;  again  the  note  of  praise,  the 
sound  of  anthems,  has  rung  through  its  silent  depths.  So  long 
as  Christianity  endures,  the  name  of  St.  Columba  will  be  re- 
vered ;  and  so  long  as  the  name  of  Columba  lives,  loiia  shall 
not  be  a^ain  fort^otten. 


CHAPTER    III 

DUNFERMLINE 

Perhaps  no  town  in  all  Scotland,  excepting  only  Edinburgh, 
figured  so  prominently  in  the  early  portions  of  Scottish  national 
history  as  Dunfermline;  surely  not  one  ever  so  vied  with  the 
capital  in  royal  favour  as  did  this  nearest  of  neighbours,  only  a 
few  miles  distant  north  of  the  Frith  of  Forth.  It  was  Malcolm 
Canmore  who,  early  in  the  eleventh  century,  first  brought  this 
burgh  into  fame  by  building  his  castle  upon  its  precipitous  hill- 
side and  designating  it  as  the  future  place  of  royal  sepulture 
instead  of  the  long-famous  isle  of  lona.  Accordingly  almost 
all  of  the  kings  of  Scotland,  from  Malcolm  to  the  Bruce,  were 
buried  here,  besides  a  host  of  princes  and  persons  of  rank  and 
fame. 

To  the  castle  which  Malcolm  had  just  built  he  invited  the 
fugitive  royal  family  of  England,  driven  from  the  throne  by  the 
Conqueror,  and  here  he  soon  espoused  one  of  those  fugitives, 
the  gentle  Princess  Margaret. 

The  advent  of  the  English  royal  family  to  the  Scottish  capital 
was  the  beginning  of  a   new  order  of   things   in   manners   and 

34 


DUNFERMLINE 


35 


mode  of  life,  not  only  at  court,  but  by  degrees  throughout  the 
Kingdom.  Under  the  influence  of  the  newly  made  queen,  we 
learn  from  her  chaplain  and  biographer,  Turgot,  the  bold  Mal- 
colm soon  founded  a  church  which  was  to  be  the  loaim  scpul- 


tiircu  re  (^121171. 


Like  most  churches  of  its  day,  this  was  the  central  feature  of 
a  monastery,  and  it  is  interesting  to  notice  that,  even  at  this 
date,  the  inmates  were  not  to  be  imported  from  across  the  border 
whence  the  queen  had  so  recently  been  driven ;  that,  though 
she  had  been  brought  up  under  the  strongest  influences  of  the 
Roman  Church,  the  monks  were  not  chosen  from  any  of  the 
English  monasteries,  which  were  all  under  papal  sway,  but  from 
lona,  the  centre  of  Scottish  Christianity,  a  centre  quite  inde- 
pendent of  Rome.  It  remained  for  Margaret's  son  David  to 
import  English  canons  to  Dunfermline  as  to  almost  all  of  the 
Scottish  abbeys.  Thirteen  Culdees  were  accordingly  established 
upon  the  new  foundation,  and  the  church  edifice  and  monastic 
buildings  were  at  once  begun.  In  1075  ^  V^^'^  <^f  ^^^'^  church 
seems  to  have  been  c()m}jleted,  for  in  that  year  it  was  dedicatetl 
to  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  Queen  Margaret's  wish  was  accom- 
plished. 

The  site  which  Malcolm  and  Margaret  chose  for  their  monas- 
tery was  one  of  the  most  imjio^ing  in  .Scotland,  on  the  .siininiit 
of  a  steej)  hill  sloping  toward  the  south,  with  a  su|->('rb  jianorama 
of  the  lowlands  stretching  away   to  the    I'lith   of    I-ortli   and    far 


36  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

beyond  toward  the  liills  of  Lothian.  To  those  approaching 
from  the  south  the  towers  of  the  abbey  were  long  a  hmdmark 
rising  like  a  crown  above  their  lofty  base.  For  eighteen  years 
the  future  of  the  abbey  looked  very  bright,  but  with  the  death 
of  Malcolm  in  1093  came  troublous  times  for  Scotland,  and  work 
upon  the  church  proceeded  very  slowly.  The  unfortunate  king 
was  not  even  buried  in  the  new  tomb  which  he  had  constructed, 
but  far  away  in  the  monastery  of  Tynemouth.  But  in  the  same 
year  Queen  Margaret,  dying  of  a  broken  heart  at  the  loss  of 
her  husband  and  son,  was  the  first  of  the  royal  family  to  be 
interred  in  the  new  church.  It  is  recorded  that  the  edifice  was 
completed  in   11 15  by  Alexander  I.,  second  son  of  Malcolm. 

This  prince,  in  any  event,  brought  the  remains  of  his  father 
from  Tynemouth  and  deposited  them,  with  great  ceremony, 
beside  those  of  his  mother  in  the  vault  in  front  of  the  hieh 
altar  of  Dunfermline.  Later  the  abbey  was  greatly  enriched  by 
David  L  and  enlarged  in  11 24  for  the  reception  of  thirteen 
Benedictine  monks  from  Canterbury;  in  11 28  Gaufrid  of  Can- 
terbury was  consecrated  first  abbot. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  determine  which  portions  of  the 
present  structure  are  part  of  Malcolm's  original  church  beo-un 
in  1075  ^rid  finished  by  Alexander,  his  son,  in  11 15,  and  which 
belong  to  the  additions  and  improvements  of  David's  time. 
Two  theories  have  been  advanced  which  seem  almost  equally 
tenable.      The    greater    number   of   Scottish   antiquarians    seem 


DUNFERMLINE 


2>7 


to  believe,  and  all  the  guide-books  state,  that  the  splendid 
Norman  nave,  with  its  two  rows  of  magnificent  piers  and  its 
heavy  walls,  is  the  original  building  of  Malcolm  and  Margaret; 
that  the  present  nave  constituted  the  entire  church  of  that 
period,  a  simple   basilical    church  with    possibly  a   curved   apse 


L 

A. 

N»te. 

"<'Q 

B. 

Cluiptcr  Court. 

^Q 

C. 

Rcfoctory. 

pPH 

D. 

Site  of  ClHiir. 

E 

E. 

Site  of  Chapter 
iToitM<. 

w^ 

F. 

Abbott'ti  Tower. 

ll 

0. 

R-jyal  Kitchen. 

!■ 

11. 

St.  KftthArino'a 
WjnJ. 

JU 

K. 

West  Portal. 

mmm 

L. 

North  Porch. 

M. 

M. 

SitiKini;  (•altrrj. 

■Lp 

V. 

.\iK-ioiit     Itoyal 

|j=j 

V^iiilt. 

(see   plan).      Some   of   the    more    recent         -'"' 

critics,  (m   the  other  hand,  hold  that  tlie 

present   nave    is    too  good  for  Malcolm's  time;    that  no  portion 

of    his    church    remains,    it    having    been    torn    down     to    ni.ikc 

room    for   the    thirteenth-ctntury   choir;    that   the  dignified   piers 

and  arches  of  the  nave  arc   the   result  of    David's  cnri(  hnients. 

P.oth   opinions  arc  well   founded;  for,  from   the  first   point   of 
view,  the  original  royal  vault  which  is    recorded    to    have    been 


145G47 


-8  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   AB15EYS 

in  front  of  tlic  high  altar,  or  below  it,  as  would  have  been 
most  natural,  is  between  the  easternmost  piers  of  the  nave 
(see  plan).  The  church  begun  with  considerable  splendour  by 
^hdcolm  was  not  finished  at  his  death,  but  was  completed  in 
less  prosperous  times  by  his  sons,  and  this  nave,  with  its 
richly  adorned  main  arcade  and  outer  walls,  has  a  triforium  and 
clerestory  of  painful  plainness  and  crudeness.  On  the  other 
side,  you  may  say  that  it  would  have  been  an  unheard-of 
innovation  in  ecclesiastical  architecture  to  begin  building  a 
church  with  the  nave,  or  to  turn  the  original  sanctuary  into 
the  nave. 

When  one  comes  to  the  question  of  style,  he  is  as  much 
in  the  dark  as  ever;  for  it  is  almost  impossible  to  judge  of 
period  by  style  in  Scotland.  The  exterior  of  this  nave  has 
been  altered  almost  beyond  recognition,  but  within  we  have 
one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  a  Norman  interior  in  Great 
Britain.  Two  rows  of  lofty  cylindrical  piers  carry  arches  com- 
posed of  rich  Norman  mouldings;  not  only  is  this  arcade  one 
of  unusually  fine  and  imposing  proportions,  but  some  of  the 
piers  are  ornamented  with  patterns  in  incised  lines,  and  the 
archivolts  are  enriched  with  a  simple  but  elegant  design. 
The  supports  are  in  no  sense  columns;  they  are  built  up  of 
many  courses  of  stone  and  their  base  is  the  simplest  of  mould- 
ings curved  round  the  bottom  above  a  square  plinth,  and  what 
might   be    called    the    capital    is   a    simple    cushion    with    eight 


DUNFERMLINE 


39 


flutin2:s    under    an    octas^onal    abacus.     The    outer    wall    has    its 
responds  of  plain  engaged  columns  of  severest  Norman  design ; 


-  ^      ■.''V'       S   \  n-5     • 


mM 


i-^lk/>ter>Jj!(i' 


A-^'^  ':>•>' 


ya 


Wf^;^i^^^^==^'  '■■■if-,'   ' 


^■^?€'*^ 


i-^s"^^  ■ 


^         -^-^*:^v:r 


j.-/-^.y..,,-^^>;^..:^N^-^ 


DUNKERMI.INK:     INTKKIDK   t)K   NAVK,    1,1  HIKING   EAST. 


r^Ji^'- 


small,     rf)und-heafl('d    windows    and     a   wall     arcade    of    narrow 
arches,   ornamented   with   the   zig/^ag    pattern    and    resting    upon 


40  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBKYS 

plain  coloncttes.  The  vaults  are  probably  a  little  later  but 
still  Romanesque.  Above  the  main  arcade  is  the  barest  row 
of  triforiuni  arches,  of  sufiRcient  height  not  to  impair  the 
dignity  of  the  lower  story,  but  entirely  unadorned,  and  a  clere- 
stor\-  wall  equally  plain,  pierced  with  small  windows.  The 
ceiling  is  of  course  of  wood,  several  having  succeeded  each 
other  in  the  abbey's  history,  owing  to  the  perishableness  of 
the  material,  but  a  beautiful  mediaeval  structure  of  oak  was  in 
place  until  the  early  part  of  this  century,  when  Sir  Walter 
Scott  made  a  visit  to  Dunfermline.  So  charmed  was  he  with 
its  beauty  that  it  soon  went  to  adorn  the  ceilings  and  walls 
of  Abbotsford.  It  is  impossible  to  understand  how  the  anti- 
quarian poet  and  romancer,  who  did  more  than  any  one  has 
ever  done  to  preserve  to  us  the  finest  specimens  of  Scottish 
mediaeval  art,  could  have  allowed  himself  to  be  so  tempted. 
The  construction  which  superseded  the  ancient  roof  is  any- 
thing but  beautiful  or  app.f  c'?^^. 

The  ground  story,  as  can  be  seen  from  the  drawing,  at 
once  suggests  Durham  Cathedral,  and  some  authorities  lose 
no  time  in  placing  it  after  that  edifice.  Durham  was  not 
begun  until  1093  and  was  not  roofed  in  until  about  11 30;  but 
there  is  a  striking  resemblance  between  the  two  interiors,  in 
the  lofty  proportions  of  the  ground-story  arcade,  and  in  the 
incised  decoration  of  the  cylindrical  piers  and  the  octagonal 
fluted  capitals.     The  cylindrical  pier  was   used  very  extensively 


DUNFERMLINE 


41 


in  the  early  Norman  churches  of  the  North,  much  more  than 
in  the  South.  We  find  it  at  Carhsle  as  well  as  at  Durham, 
at  Kelso,  at  Lindisfarne  and  even  at  St.  Magnus  in  the  Ork- 
neys ;  but  the  use  of  the  incised  pattern  was  not  so  common, 
though  we  find  it  at  Lindisfarne,  just  off  the  coast  of  Berwick. 
Many  theories  have  been  advanced  to  explain  its  origin.  The 
most  probable  is  that  i<"  was  a  design  borrowed  from  the 
earlier  churches  which  the  Norman  builders  replaced. 

It  does  not  seem  absolutely  necessary,  then,  to  place  Dun- 
fermline after  Durham,  but  quite  possible  to  make  the  two 
about  contemporaneous,  both  taking  suggestions  from  the  same 
source,  and  to  give  Dunfermline  the  advantage  of  a  few  years' 
start.  Durham  is,  of  course,  a  far  more  highly  articulated 
structure,  and  much  richer  in  design,  taken  as  a  whole,  but 
there  is  sufficient  resemblance  between  them  to  warrant  our 
belief  that  both  are  derived  from  the  same  parent  stock.  I  do 
not  wish  to  take  one  whit  of  his  fame  as  a  cliuicli  builder 
from  the  saintly  King  David,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
Romanesque  of  his  day  was  somewhat  different  from  this,  — 
lighter  and  more  ornate.  At  Kelso,  whit  li  is  one  of  the  tew 
extant  examples  of  his  many  buildings,  we  have  circulai"  piers, 
but  with  columns  engaged  on  three  faces,  and  cushion  caj)s 
with  many  flutings.  The  wall  arcades,  too,  then*  arc  interlaced 
and  far  more  ornate  than  those  at  Dniifciiiilinc  I  o  D.uid's 
time   it    is   easy   to   assign    the    aisle   \-.uilts    and    the   west     (lonl 


42 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   A15BEYS 


with    its    tlanking    towers,   so    far    as    it    preserves    its    Norman 
character.     The    main   western    doorway   is   of    great   interest,  a 


DUNFERMLINE:     1111.   WKSl    I'OklAU 


i 


spacious  portal  of  five  recessed  arches,  preserved  entire.  The 
elaborate  ornament  of  the  arches  has  for  the  most  part  weath- 
ered away,   though   it  is  possible  to  see  in   the  vous.soirs  of   the 


DUNFERMLINE 


43 


outer  arch  a  few  of  the  twelve  faces  which  alternate  with 
carved  floral  designs  and  have  been  called  the  twelve  apostles, 
though  they  are  simply  grotesques.  The  shafts  of  the  colo- 
nettes  have  been  restored  with  their  bases,  but  the  capitals  are 
quite  intact  and  show  considerable  variety  of  design.  The 
whole  portal  is  fine  in  proportion  and  rich  in  execution. 
The  nave  had  two  other  portals,  not  in  the  fa9ade,  but  open- 
ing north  and  south  from  the  first  bay  east  of  the  towers. 
That  to  the  north  opened  toward  the  town  and  was  later  pro- 
vided with  an  elaborate  porch.  The  other  o])ened  upon  the 
cloister.  The  hideous  buttresses  which  mar  the  exterior  of 
the  nave  were  built  between   1585  and   1675. 

Early  in  the  thirteenth  century  a  period  of  great  strength 
began  for  the  abbey;  a  new  and  spacious  choir  was  built  in 
1 231,  application  for  finuls  was  made  to  P()i)e  (ircgory  IX., 
and  the  number  of  canons  was  increased  from   thirty  to  fifty. 

The  king,  Alexander  II.,  called  the  "  Peaceful,"  and  liis 
queen,  Johanna,  l)()th  showered  favours  and  gifts  upon  the 
"  liouse,"  although  they  had  chosen  Melrose  as  their  hist 
resting-place. 

The  monastic  buildings  were  greatly  extended,  until  under 
Alexander  III.  the  institution  jjccame  one  of  thr  largest  and 
most   |)ouei"fiil    in    the    North. 

It  was  under  this  tiionarch  that  the  r(li(  s  of  St.  M.ngaret 
were  translated   to    the    new   .shrine   while   elaborate  preparations 


44 


SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 


were  made  for  a  new  place  of  royal  sepulture.  Upon  the  death 
of  Alexander  in  1286,  and  that  of  his  only  heir,  the  "Maid 
of  Norway,"  four  years  later,  Scodand  was  plunged  into  the 
well-known  bloody  strife  between  the  descendants  of  David  I., 
through  the  Earl  of  Huntington,  that  made  the  country  an 
easy  prey  to  the  ambitious  schemes  of  the  English  sovereign. 
Dunfermline  was  amonc:  the  first  of  the  religious  houses  north 
of  the  Forth  to  suffer  the  violence  of    the  invading  hosts. 

In  1303  the  domestic  portion  of  the  monastery  suffered 
great  damage  during  the  invasion  of  Edward  I.,  but  was 
quickly  restored  under  King  Robert  Bruce.  After  this  the 
abbey  enjoyed  comparative  tranquillity  until  its  destruction  in 
1560.  Of  the  most  important  structure  of  this  period — the 
portions  of  the  church  east  of  the  nave  —  almost  no  vestige 
remains.  A  faint  memory  of  its  form  is  preserved  In  some 
poor  seventeenth-century  sketches  and  of  its  details  in  the 
merest  fra2:ments  of  the  eastern  end  still  in  situ.  From  these 
we  infer  that  there  must  have  been  a  broad  transept  with  a 
tower  above  the  crossing,  a  spacious  choir  of  six  bays,  and 
joined  to  the  east  end  of  this  a  Lady  Chapel.  The  northern 
choir  aisle  seems  to  have  been  flanked  by  a  row  of  chapels  or 
perhaps  a  secondary  aisle,  giving  great  width  to  this  part  of 
the  church. 

This  must  have  been  a  very  imposing  structure,  built  as  it 
was  during    the  best  period  of    the   Early  English    style  in  the 


DUNFERMLINE 


45 


North,  with  its  lofty  tower  pierced  by  two  stories  of  tall  pointed 
windows,  its  buttresses  and  pinnacles,  and  far  more  beautiful 
from  the  exterior  than  the  mother  church.  Some  idea  of  the 
richness  of  its  decorations  may  be  had  from  the  remnant  of 
the  Lady  Chapel,  where  the  bases  of  colonettes  and  the  mould- 
ings display  the  use  of  the  "  nail-head "  and  other  designs  of 
Early  English  ornament.  It  was  to  this  Lady  Chapel  (of 
which  only  the  base  mouldings  and  the  base  of  the  arcade  are 
extant)  that  the  bodies  of  the  sainted  Oueen  Marfraret  and  her 
spouse  were  brought  in   1250. 

The  shrine  of  St.  IVLirgaret  had  grown  steadily  in  poj^ular 
esteem  as  the  resort  of  pilgrims  ever  since  her  interment  and 
later  canonization.  As  the  number  -of  miracles  worked  by  the 
royal  relics  increased  and  as  the  fame  of  the  shrine  spread  in 
both  kingdoms,  the  number  of  pilgrims  became  each  year 
larger  and  more  important,  until  an  almost  continuous  line  of 
devotees  could  be  seen  upon  the  road  between  the  "  Queen's 
Ferry  "and  the  abbey,  wIiiIl-  pilgrims' crosses  marked  tlie  roads 
that  led  to  the  shrine  for  miles  around.  The  number  of  gifts 
grew  |)roportionally  with  that  of  the  pilgrims,  so  that  it  was 
found  necessary  for  convenience,  and  ])()ssible  from  a  (main  ial 
standpoint,  to  erect  a  more  eonnnodions  and  ii(  her  shiine. 
The  Lady  Chapel  was  accordingly  buih,  and  a  superb  relic 
tomb  erected  within  il.  A  liigh  feast  maikid  the  translation 
of  the   sacred    bones  fiom    their  old    resting-i)lace,  and   a  curious 


^6  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

tradition  accounts  for  tlic  removal  of  the  king's  bones  as  well 
as  those  of  his  sainted  spouse. 

W'itli  all  the  j^onip  and  pageantry  of  a  most  holy  function, 
the  relics  of  the  saint  were  raised  from  tlicir  resting-place ;  and, 
with  a  cortege  of  kings,  princes,  high  ecclesiastical  dignitaries, 
and  nobles  of  every  degree,  the  solemn  procession  toward  their 
new  abode  be2:an. 

Between  the  easternmost  piers  of  the  old  church,  rich  with 
their  incised  ornament  and  brilliant  with  colour,  was  the  tomb 
of  Malcolm  Canmore.  As  the  gorgeous  cofhn  of  the  saint- 
queen  passed  between  these  columns  and  reached  the  sarcopha- 
gus of  her  husband,  it  became  so  heavy  that  those  who  bore 
it  were  compelled  to  lay  it  down,  nor  could  they  by  any  force 
raise  or  move  it  an  inch  further.  The  portent  and  the  delay 
caused  great  consternation  among  those  in  the  pompous  train, 
until  it  was  proposed  that  the  coffin  of  the  king  be  moved  too, 
when  both  at  once  became  so  licrht  as  almost  to  have  moved 
of  their  own  accord  to  their  final  resting-place.  The  presence 
of  uncanonizcd  bones  by  the  side  of  the  sainted  ones  is  thus 
counted  no  profanation,  and  the  "  unbelieving  husband  is  saved 
by  the  believing  wife."  The  shattered  slab  of  imported  gray 
marble  filled  with  fossils,  still  to  be  seen  on  the  site  of  the 
Lady  Chapel,  is  a  j^art  of  the  original  shrine,  and  still  covers 
the  place  where  .so  long  rej)osed  the  remains  of  the  royal  saint 
and  her  kingly  husband.     The  six  holes  regularly  disposed  along 


DUNFERMLINE  47 

the  sides  of  the  slab  doubtless  were  sockets  to  receive  the 
bottoms  of  marble  or  metal  colonettes  which  supported  the 
canopy  of  the  shrine,  which  was,  in  all  probability,  not  unlike 
that  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  —  an  almost  contemporaneous 
structure  in  Westminster  Abbey,  —  except  that  the  cofifin  was 
not  elevated. 

In  front  of  the  altar  of  the  new  choir  a  new  royal  vault 
was  made  for  future  burials,  the  older  one  havino-  become 
crowded ;  and,  the  most  important  relics  having  been  removed 
from  here  to  the  Lady  Chapel,  the  less  sacred  bones  were 
allowed  to  rest  in  their  original  position.  A  large  share  of  its 
sanctity  thus  passed  from  the  old  church  to  the  new,  though 
mass  was  constantly  said  and  lights  perennially  burned  above 
the  old  locum  scpnltiircu  regium  until   Reformation  times. 

When  tlie  king  died  he  was  unquestionably  laid  in  the  new 

vault,  altliough   Scott  says, 

"  Long  since,  beneath  Dunfermline's  nave, 
King  Alexander  fills  his  grave," 

referrinir  to  the  "third  monarch  of  that  warlike  name,"  in  his 
encounter  with   the  goblin   knight. 

Under  Alexander  III.  (d.  1286)  (he  abbey  reached  (lie 
zenith  of  its  greatness,  fiom  \\lii(  li  it  descended  but  little  until 
after  the  reign  of  the  liruce.  I  )iiiing  ll)i^  lime  the  (  linn  h 
became  the  site  ^^'i  the  most  magnificent  moninneiits  in  Scot- 
land.     'I  lie    tombs    ol    .dl     the    great    kings   were    here,    excn    of 


48  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 

Hrucc  liimsclf.  The  shrine  of  St,  Margaret  was  more  and 
more  cnriclied,  nobles  vied  with  each  other  in  erecting  for 
themselves  tombs  of  the  greatest  splendour;  in  short,  Dunferm- 
line became  the  Westminster  Abbey  of  Scotland.  Then  came 
the  Reformation,  and  though  this  church  seems  to  have  sur- 
vived the  wholesale  destruction  of  ecclesiastical  buildin2:s  under 
Henry  \  III.,  it  was  completely  wrecked  by  the  Covenanters, 
who,  in  1560,  pulled  down  the  choir,  and  in  iconoclastic  fury 
broke  the  tombs  and  smashed  the  efifigies.  Little  by  little  the 
burghers  allowed  the  ruined  building  to  fall  until  the  very 
site  of  Bruce's  splendid  shrine  was  lost  to  memory.  Little  by 
little  they  preyed  upon  the  ruin  of  their  greatest  national  monu- 
ment for  building  materials,  until,  in  1818,  only  a  portion  of  the 
north  wall  remained  standing.  In  this  year  the  site  was  cleared, 
and  the  foundation  of  a  new  house  of  worship,  upon  substan- 
tially the  lines  of  the  old  choir  and  transept,  was  laid  by  the 
Earl  of  Elgin  and  Kincardine,  the  famous  earl  who  brought 
the  Parthenon  sculptures  to  London,  saving  them,  perhaps, 
from  complete  destruction,  perhaps  from  one  of  the  continental 
museums. 

The  building  of  the  "  New  Abbey  Church  "  makes  one  of 
the  saddest  chapters  in  the  hist(jry  of  the  abbey.  It  was  com- 
pleted in  i<S2i,  its  period  of  building  being  the  poorest  in  the 
architectural  history  of  Great  Britain,  when  the  Gothic  had  not 
been   studied    and    the   Victorian    Gothic    not   developed.     It    is 


DUNFERMLINE 


49 


a  disheartening  piece  of  design,  full  of  false  proportions,  its 
mouldings  within  and  without  being  absolutely  fiat  and  often 
uncarved.  It  is  altogether  a  fitting  monument  to  those  who 
pulled  down  its  predecessor  and 
destroyed  the  monuments  of  an 
age  whose  glories  they  themselves 
could  not  attain. 

One  fortunate  circumstance  was 
the  outcome  of  this  rebuilding, — 
the  discovery,  among  the  old  debris, 
of  the  body  of  King  Robert  the 
Bruce,  wrapt  in  a  leaden  shroud 
lined  with  frau:ments  of  cloth  of 
gold.  A  careful  examination  of  the 
skeleton  revealed  that  the  bones  of 
the  breast  had  been  cut  throuiih 
for  the  removal  of  the  heart,  which 
was  done  to  the  body  of  iiruce  for 
his  friend,  the  loyal  Sir  James 
Douglas,  to  whom  Bruce  had  given 
the   commission    to    bear    his   heart 

4  ,1  III  1  1  DRUCR   MKMORIAt.   IIRASS. 

to  the    1  ioly   Land. 

His    remains,   having  been    thus    idciitiTKd    licyond   n    dotil)!, 


new    I ) n  1 1 <  1 1 1 1 ' ' ,    . 1 1 )( 


1     II 


were   given    tlir    place   of    hononi"   in    tli 

tower  thereof   heralds   the  fact  in   early   ninetcciilli-i cnUny  fash- 


50  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

ion,  its  h.iliistrade  1)cino;  wrought  of  colossal  letters  which 
spell  the  words  "  King  Robert  the  Bruce."  A  rather  more 
fitting  monument  has  marked  the  spot  where  Bruce  lies  buried, 
since  1889  —  a  simple  brass  designed  in  mediaeval  style  inlaid 
upon  a  slab  of  Egyptian  porphyry.  The  king  is  represented 
in  the  characteristic  attitude  of  mediceval  brasses,  crowned 
and  in  chain  arniour.  At  his  left  side  are  the  famous  two- 
handed  sword  and  a  shield  bearing  the  rampant  lion  of  Scot- 
land. His  feet  rest  upon  a  lion  couchant,  and  other  heraldic 
emblems  make  up  the  design   of   the  brass. 

Of  the  monastic  buildini^s  there  remains  an  interesting; 
portion  which  belongs  to  the  thirteenth-century  period :  it  is 
not  possible  to  say  definitely  whether  it  belongs  to  the  early 
part  of  the  century  or  to  the  reconstruction  under  Bruce, 
but  the  evidence  would  lead  to  the  opinion  that  the  major 
part  is  of  the  earlier  date,  with  details  executed  early  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  These  remains  are  situated  directly  across 
the  ancient  cloister  court  to  the  south  of  the  nave,  and  repre- 
sent a  portion  of  the  refectory  with  the  abbot's  tower,  as  it  is 
called,  which  was  built  upon  an  arched  passage  above  the  ancient 
road  leading  up  to  the  abbey,  and  was  connected  with  the  kitch- 
ens of  the  Royal  Palace.  This  portion  of  the  abbey  stood  on 
the  very  edge  of  the  precipitous  hillside  up  which  the  road  wound 
in  a  gradual  but  steep  incline.  The  lower  side  of  the  "  fratry," 
or  refectory,  has  two  stories  below  the  level  of  the    cloister. 


\  4:cii|Masj^|jj^ 


V^ 


^^^f^'i^' 


'^A-A^ 


■  (," 


,-i^  -t. 


2 


as 


o 


O 

pa 
-I" 


V. 

ai 

O 

Ui 


td 

w 
u 


52  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

In  tlic  drawini;  made  from  the  parapet  over  the  roadway 
one  may  see  the  three  stories  of  the  refectory,  with  the  abbot's 
tcnver  above  the  road  beyond.  The  lower  story  is  vaulted  and 
was  probably  the  cellar  of  the  abbey ;  the  next  is  also  covered 
with  vaults  and  may  have  been  the  kitchen;  small  windows 
may  be  seen  opening  out  from  these  levels.  Above  all  was 
the  refectory,  with  its  long  row  of  tall  pointed  windows  and  its 
great  traceried  window  toward  the  west.  Near  the  opposite 
end  of  the  wall,  built  out  between  the  buttresses  and  sus- 
pended upon  arches,  is  a  small  vaulted  compartment  with 
two  narrow  openings  outward  and  two  inward  upon  the  hall ; 
this  is  called  the  "  music  gallery,"  but  may  have  been  the 
place  from  which  one  of  the  brethren  read  the  Scriptures 
while  the  others  were  at  meat.  At  the  western  end  of  the 
wall  the  similar  space  between  the  buttresses  was  utilized  for 
a  staircase  from  below,  but  not  extending  above  the  refectory 
windows.  In  the  western  wall  are  two  doors,  one  leading 
into  a  small  octagonal  tower  which  once  had  a  staircase,  the 
other  opening  uj)on  the  abbot's  tower  and  communicating 
with  the  royal  kit(  lien,  to  the  bounty  of  which  the  monks  had 
certain  stipulated  rights. 

Throughout  the  early  history  of  the  abbey  these  rights 
were  strictly  obsen'ed ;  but  as  the  abbey  grew  and  the  num- 
ber of  monks  and  penitents  increased,  this  privilege  became 
a  great  annoyance  to  the  royal  purveyor  and   a  constant  drain 


li'-U," 


<^;:r-i^': 


rst 


''yt 


'ii^'i 


mM 


Ml 


-■r^ 


I'^^-A-'^r.i 


i^l^.'-'^' 


=:i.-/S!' 


><;<k 


I 


.«i>-- 


'J 

2 

o 
o 
►J 

>^ 

ai 
O 

b 
Id 
OS 

u. 

O 

BfS 

o 

M 
H 
•/5 


V. 


^td|^v_¥<|r ;  ■■■' 


hr^^-^~ 


,'i 
\ 


>'Vi^- 


54  SCOTLAND'S   RUINKD    AllliKYS 

upon  tlie  royal  purse,  until  AlcxaiukT  II.  cut  off  tliis  time- 
honoured  source  of  sup])!)'  and  granted  to  the  monastery  the 
lands  of   Dollar  as  a  substitute. 

Of  the  refectory  all  the  lower  portions  arc  plainly  of  early 
thirteenth-century  construction,  and  the  southern  wall,  from 
the  remnants  of  tracery  which  it  preserves,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  that  in  the  "music  gallery,"  which  is  evidently  of  later 
date,  would  seem  to  belong  to  the  same  period.  The  western 
wall,  with  its  broad,  low-arched  window  and  beautiful  tracery, 
is  doubtless  a  part  of  Bruce's  restoration  ;  for,  though  far  from 
being  perpendicular,  it  is  neither  flowing  nor  plainly  geometri- 
cal. The  abbot's  tower  is  of  older  construction.  Its  position 
making  uncommon  solidity  a  necessity,  it  has  outlasted  many 
buildings  of  its  age. 


CHAPTER    IV 


Holy 

AKCADK  Ol'    IIOLYKOOD. 


HOLYROOD 


Perhaps  the  most  familiar 
of  the  ancient  monastic  edifices 
of  Scotland,  next  to  Meh'ose 
Abbey,  is  llolyrood  Chajjcl,  the 
ruined  remnant  of  the  once 
powerful  abbey  of  Holyrood. 
It  is  now  in  the  city  of  lulin- 
burgh,  though  at  the  time  of  its 
founding  it  was  beyond  the  fartlu'st  outskirts.  It  stands  well 
at  the  southeast  of  the  city,  at  the  end  of  the  Canongate,  com- 
pletely hidden,  as  you  approach  it,  by  the  buildings  of  the 
Royal  Palace,  which  through  centuries  was  i)erniiLted  to  en- 
croach upon  its  ancient  neighbour  until  the  more  modern 
walls  have  crowded  (lie  black  and  crundjling  ones  sadly  into 
the  background. 

Of  the  extensive  media-val  monastery  with  its  great  cluncli, 
its  spacious  cloisters,  and  its  far-stretching  cluster  of  ecclesi- 
astical   buildings,   nothing    is    left    but   a   ])ortion    of    the    church 

55 


56 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


edifice,  inclutlini;-    the   west    front,   the   high,   enclosing  walls   of 
the  nave,  a  portion  of  the  main  arcade,  and  fragments  of  single 

,.  piers;  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  trace 

B  the  main  outlines  of  the  church  in 

/j  the  smooth  green  that  surrounds  the 
■  ruin  —  these  show  the  plan  to  have 
"f  included  broad  transepts  and  a 
choir  of  considerable  length.  The 
steps  leading  up  to  the  high  altar 
at  the  line  of  the  sanctuary  are 
still  visible  in  two  little  terraces. 


An  imaginary  reconstruction  of 
the  whole  church  upon  the  lines 
thus  furnished,  in   addition   to  the 


A.  N>Tr. 

B.  S\u<4  Cronjinr. 

C.  Oor  of  Ihr  »  v,i. 

tn  Towpn. 

D.  Wert    Portll. 

E.  P>U<;r. 

F.  Cloulrr. 


I'LAN    UK    HULVKiNiI)    AHBEY. 


preserved  nave  of  seven  bays,  would  give  a  building  of  imposing 
dimensions,  comparing  favourably  in  size  with  some  of  the  larger 
English  abl^eys.  When  the  choir  and  transepts  were  demol- 
ished (1596),  the  nave  was  provided  with  an  eastern  wall;  the 
high  east  window  in  this  wall,  intact  even  to  its  tracery,  fills 
the  entire  expanse  between  the  eastern  piers  and  below  the 
lofty  transverse  arch,  which  was  originally  the  westernmost 
arch  of  the  crossing  and  one  of  the  main  arches  of  the  great 
central  tower;  beneath  this  the  new  high  altar  was  placed. 
This  wall  and  its  window  are  hung  with  a  rich  drapery  of  ivy 


HOLYROOD 


57 


vine   and    an  exquisite    carpet    of   greensward    is   spread    before 
the  site  of  the  new  altar. 

The  south  aisle  is  the  best  preserved  portion  of  the  ruin ; 
all  of  its  vaults  are  still  in  position,  with  the  piers  and  arches 
of  the  main  arcade  and  the  triforium  gallery. 

Three  distinct  styles  are  to  be  found  among   the  fragments 
of   broken   wall    and    pier:    the 
Norman,  the  early  pointed,  and 
the  seventeenth-century  Gothic 
of  some  of  the  restorations. 

The    Norman    work,    while 
not  the  most  conspicuous,  con- 
stitutes   a    fair    portion    of    the 
ruin.      It  comprises   a   part  of 
the  south  wall,  where  are  pre- 
served the  windows  '  of  the  first 
two    bays    west    of    the    cross- 
ing,    and     a     doorway,     now 
walled   up,  that   led   from   the 
nave    into    the    cloister.       It 
can    be    seen   only  from    the 
exterior. 

The    next    oldest    portion 
IS     found     m      the     opposite  /w./  ,- ,.;  /■/„;,. 

'These  are  apparently  late  reproductions  of  |)rLuxisting  Nurniiii  windows. 


X\<   .     .'    ^'^- 


^S  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   AIJBEVS 

wall,  where  an  arcade  of  rich  interlaced  round  arches  illustrates 
the  first  steps  toward  the  transition.  Two  periods  of  Roman- 
esque style  are  thus  represented  in  these  few  fragments,  quite 
distinct  and  well  defined  though  incorporated  in  the  same 
walls. 

The  doorway  just  alluded  to  is  low,  but  provided  with  a 
full  set  of  rich,  early  Norman  mouldings  originally  carried  by 
colonettes,  the  cushion  caps  of  which  still  remain.  The  pro- 
portions of  this  portal  and  the  early  type  of  ornament  would 
place  it  among  the  specimens  of  earlier  Norman  work,  while 
the  fragment  of  arcade  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  nave  would 
seem  to  belong  to  a  considerably  later  date.  It  is  not  unusual 
to  find  earlier  and  later  developments  of  the  same  style  in  the 
several  parts  of  a  building;  but  it  is  impossible  to  account 
for  this  change  of  style  manifested  in  the  same  portion  of  an 
edifice,  for  the  differences  are  not  between  the  upper  and 
lower  parts  of  the  structure  nor  yet  between  the  eastern  and 
western,  but  hopelessly  mixed  together  as  if  the  building  of 
the  church  had  been  arrested  by  some  catastrophe.  The  two 
periods  which  figure  here  are  such  as  might  easily  represent 
the  work  of  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  reign  of  David  I. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  the  fragments  of  early  Norman 
at  the  east  end  of  the  nave  may  indicate  that  the  choir  and 
transej)ts  were  in  that  style.  The  remainder  of  the  ruin  is 
all     in    the    early    pointed    style;    and    the    portions    destroyed 


HOLYROOD 


59 


seem  also  to  have  been  of  the  same  character,  so  that,  in 
all  probability,  we  have  most  of  the  relics  of  the  original 
structure  that  survived  the  first  rebuilding.  This  Gothic 
structure     was    built     upon     the     lines    of     the    older     Norman 


INTKKIok    ()!■■    N.WK,    [,<hiKIN(;    IvASI. 

Point  2  oil   /'/(III. 


churrh,  nt  least  so  far  as  the  iia\f  is  ronrcrnrd  ;  for  here 
we  have  early  work  on  both  sides.  The  scxcn  ba)'s  ai'e  of 
the  mr)st  diLi^niTied  fh-si^n,  showing  a  highly  articulated  shnc- 
ture,  ric:hiy  though  not  piolii.sely  decorated.  1  he  wall  ai-cades 
of     this     jieriod     ai\'    single-nrehed     nnrl     aentelv    pointed  ;     their 


6o  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

mouldings  and  capitals  are  quite  different  in  character  from 
those  of  the  earlier  arcade.  They  are  rich  and  deeply  cut, 
the  capitals  being  of  flowing  foliate  design.  The  piers  con- 
sist of  a  number  of  slender  shafts  engaged  with  a  heavy  pier. 
The  inside  shafts  are  carried  through  a  small  capital,  little 
more  than  a  moulding,  to  the  springing  of  the  main  vault 
ribs.  At  the  triforium  a  moulding  breaks  round  them.  The 
use  of  these  shafts  is  quite  in  the  manner  of  those  in  some 
of  the  best  French  Gothic  models. 

The  undoubted  use  of  vaults  of  stone  over  the  central 
alley  of  the  nave  adds  greatly  to  the  architectural  interest 
of  this  clunch.  This  involved  a  much  hii^her  order  of  con- 
structive  principles  than  was  exercised  in  the  building  of  the 
majority  of  these  abbeys,  and  it  seems  to  have  been  carried 
out  with  the  greatest  success.  Besides  the  cluster  of  vault- 
ing shafts  which  we  have  seen  carried  up  from  the  pavement 
to  support  the  downward  pressures  of  the  vault  ribs  there 
was  also  an  elaborate  system,  as  we  shall  see,  of  exterior  but- 
tresses to  meet  the  outward  thrust  of  the  vaults,  and  this  of 
necessity  influenced  the  whole  character  of  the  building. 

The  arches  of  the  main  arcade  are,  of  course  pointed,  and 
provided  with  pure  Gothic  mouldings.  Above  the  moulding 
which  crowns  the  main  story,  runs  the  fine  arcade  of  pointed 
arches  which  constituted  the  triforium,  and  above  this,  at  the 
extreme   ends,   we   can    still    see   the   eno:aG:ed  colonettes    of    the 


HOLYROOD  6 1 

clerestory,  which  must  have  been  high  enough  to  have  filled 
the  nave  with  a  flood  of  light.  Here,  then,  we  have  a  fully 
articulated  Gothic  structure,  with  the  soaring  height  and  grace- 
ful proportions  that  belong  to  the  Gothic. 

What  the  form  of  the  high  vaults  was  we  can  onl)-  judge 
from  a  few  bits  of  vault  rib  still  clinging  to  the  clerestory  wall 
and  from  that  of  the  vaults  of  the  side  aisles. 

The  side-aisle  vaults,  like  the  arches,  are  much  higher  than 
usual,  higher  even  in  proportion  than  many  of  the  Gothic  vaults 
in  England.  The  plan  of  the  vaults  is  a  perfectly  simple,  square, 
cross-form ;  the  plan  upon  which  all  French  Gothic  low  vaults 
were  built.  The  ribs  which  support  them  rest  u})on  engaged 
columns  which  are,  in  every  case,  brought  to  the  ground  by  a 
slender  shaft.  Tlic  ribs  themselves  are  delicately  nioulded  and 
perfectly  fitted.  The  ]:)lan  of  the  high  vaults,  as  suggested  by 
the  arrangement  of  ])iers,  the  use  of  shafts  alcove  the  arches, 
between  the  piers,  and  the  fragments  of  wall  ril)s  preserved  at 
their  springing,  would  seem  to  liave  been  of  the  six-part  order. 
In  fact,  these  vaults  are  not  unlike  some  of  the  best  si)ecimens 
of   I^arly    h-nglish   t}'])e,  like  those  of  the  cathedral  of  Salisburv. 

Across  the  nave  there  remain  standing  onl)'  the  ai.sle  wall 
and  two  shattered  ])i(Ts  of  (  liistered  shafts.  'I'hc  wall  preservi's 
the  s])acious  ])ointed  openings,  some  fwie  engaged  shafts,  ter- 
minating in  delicate  (.ipitals  of  h'.arl)-  I'-nglish  woik.  and  the 
exquisite    Norman   arcade   of   interlacing   rouiitl   aiehes  with   their 


62 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


slender  coloiiettes.  Above  tlie  wall  tower  square  buttresses 
with  simjile  pinnaeles.  Just  above  the  line  of  the  wall,  on  the 
inner  face  of  each  buttress,  can  be  seen  the  set-off  from  which 
sprang  a  ll\  ing  buttress  which  spanned  the  aisle  roof  to  meet  the 


'?:'^V 


^iSx^W^^y^v^ ''  '■'   '  '^    ■fJii  p'^'^Ssi^^i^^ 


^'"*'V— ''fv^^^"^'^£^i-^^£?*  — rj^i— ""t:^  .^-r! 


HOLYKOOIJ  :     WKSr    KKONT,    KKOM    N.W. 

thrust  of  the  high  vaults.  The  buttresses  from  which  these  half- 
arches  sprang  are  very  dee}),  so  that  the  whole  system  of  vault 
support  from  shaft  and  ill)  to  buttress  is  admirably  illustrated. 

The   west  front,   flanked   by  two  massive  towers,   underwent 
extensive    restoration     in    the    time    of    Charles     I.,    but    there 


HOLYROOD  63 

are  still  to  be  found  a  few  bits  of  Early  English  work  in  the 
varied  and  delicate  carving  of  the  portal  and  the  sculptured 
arcade  with  deeply  carved  heads  in  its  spandrels.  This  main 
portal  is  in  many  respects  very  striking  —  there  are  few  like 
it  anywhere  in  the  North.  It  is  sharply  pointed  and  deeply 
recessed,  like  French  examples  of  the  end  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, and  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  French  tyj)e  in 
its  form  and  proportions.  The  building  up  of  the  tympanum 
with  a  miniature  arcade  is  quite  in  the  manner  of  tin-  Ilc-dc- 
France,  the  lintel  carved  with  a  frieze  of  angel  heads  suggests 
either  French  or  Italian  art,  but  the  sculpture  of  the  arch  mould- 
ings, which  includes  twisted  patterns  and  semi-geometrical  de- 
signs, is  entirely  insular  and  indeed  quite  Scottish.  Ahow  the 
portal  the  fagadc  is  treated  in  later  styles  which  belong  chiclly 
to  Charles  I.'s  renovation.  The  remaiin'ng  tower  is  pierced 
with   jDointed  double   windows  of   Early  English  design. 

On  the  exterior  from  the  north  we  notice  that  the  buttresses 
arc  of  later  style  than  the  wall  within  ;  that  the  outer  face  of 
each  is  proxided  with  a  canopied  niche,  from  which  the  statue 
has,  of  course,  disa])peared. 

Of  the  buildings  which  clustered  about  Ihe  (  loisjcr  (omt 
oil  the  south  nothing  whatever  remains.  The  buttresses  which 
extend  out  from  the  uorlheru  wall  are  ou  the  south  set  fai' 
out  froui  the  wall,  with  which  tht'V  are  eouuec  te(|  b\'  low,  broad 
semi-arches  (Hying  buttresses)  which  span  oni-  side  uf  (he  ( loister 


64  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

walk.  The  outward  thrusts  of  the  high  vaults  are  thus,  on  the 
north,  carried  to  the  earth  by  two  sets  of  flying  arches  meeting 
at  a  buttress  buiU  in  the  aisle  wall  in  a  manner  unique  and  in 
this   jDarticular  usage  very  effective. 

The  ruin  as  a  whole  is  wonderfully  imposing  after  we 
have  ]\asscd  through  the  cold  flat  arcades  of  the  palace  court 
and  come  at  one  step  face  to  face  with  the  rich  deep  shadows 
of  the  Middle  Aijes. 

The  fire  by  which  the  abbey  finally  perished  imparted  a 
beautifully  dark  tone  to  the  pile,  a  hue  of  sombre  black,  with 
which  the  bright  green  tints  of  the  ivy  clinging  to  the  interior 
walls  makes  a  striking  combination. 

Holyrood  was  one  of  the  first  abbeys  established  by 
David  I.  after  his  accession.  A  legend  with  variations  as  to 
details  tells  that  a  dense  forest  covered  the  spot  where  the 
abbey  now  stands,  and  that  fine  sport  with  bow  and  spear 
was  to  be  had  in  the  depths  of  its  glades.  The  young  king 
came  often  to  this  wood  for  the  pleasures  of  the  chase, 
and  one  day  had  started  in  pursuit  of  a  royal  stag,  which, 
instead  of  darting  off  with  hounds  in  full  cry  behind  him, 
turned  and  dashed  furiously  toward  the  kingly  huntsman,  with 
a  flaming  cross  blazing  between  his  antlers.  In  response  to  a 
half-breathed  call  for  divine  aid,  the  cross  miraculously  passed 
into   the   king's  hand,   and   the   stag  fled.     The   king  in   thank- 


HOLYROOD  65 

fulness  vowed  a  great  church  to  be  erected  upon  the  site 
already  consecrated  by  the  divine  vision. 

In  1 1 28  David  granted  a  charter,  and  with  munificent  gifts 
at  the  hands  of  its  founder  the  promised  abbey  materialized 
and  grew  rapidly ;  a  broad  clearing  was  made  in  the  royal 
forest,  and  well-tilled  fields  soon  spread  out  toward  the  hills 
to  the  east.  The  church  and  monastic  buildinfrs  were  becrun, 
of  course,  in  Norman  style,  and  some  fragments  of  the  former 
still  remain  in  situ,  as  we  have  seen,  representing  the  primi- 
tive structure  in  somewhat  crude  style,  with  alterations  carried 
out  in  a  later  period  of  David's  reign  and  in  better  style. 

On  account  of  its  suburban  situation  and  the  wealth  of 
its  endowments,  the  abbey,  from  the  first,  was  blessed  with 
unusual  prosperity.  Its  inmates,  who  were  of  the  order  of 
St.  Aufjustine,  built  a  ma2:nificent  church  and  irathered  about 
their  abbey  a  considerable  town,  which  stretched  away  toward 
the  city,  from  which  it  was  long  separated  by  a  tract  of  ojxmi 
country.  The  holdings  of  the  abbey,  a  broad  expanse  of  meadow 
land  and  forest  reaching  as  far  as  the  toj)  of  Arthur's  Seat, 
was  called  the  abbey  sanctuary,  and,  like  the  cities  of  refuge 
in  Scripture,  offered  prf)tection  to  fugitives  from  vengeance 
and   from   debt. 

The  forests,  well  stocked  with  all  kinds  of  game,  offered 
excellent  oj)j)ortunities  for  the  chase  and  became  a  favourite 
resort   of    the    royal    founder.     This    c\j)liins    the    early  a])j)car- 

F 


66  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 

ance  of  royal  apartments  in  the  abbey,  which  grew  into  the 
palace  of  Holyrood  and  finally  became  the  state  palace  of  the 
Kinodom. 

The  original  church,  the  Norman  structure,  was  replaced  in 
the  thirteenth  century  by  one  in  pointed  style,  of  which  the 
ruin,  as  we  have  it,  is  largely  a  part.  We  do  not  know  why 
the  great  church  in  the  Romanesque  style  was  made  to  give 
place  to  a  new  one.  It  may  have  been  in  consequence  of 
one  of  the  many  fires  that  the  abbey  suffered,  or  possibly 
only  the  result  of  the  great  revival  in  architecture  that  every- 
where followed  the  introduction  of  the  pointed  arch,  when 
many  fine  buildings  in  the  round-arch  style  were  deliberately 
taken  down. 

It  is  not  possible  to  say  just  when  this  change  took 
place,  but  comparing  the  forms  and  treatment  of  the  details 
with  buildings  whose  date  is  approximately  known,  we  should 
place  it  at  the  end  of  William's  reign,  during  which  Arbroath 
was  entirely  built,  and  before  the  time  of  Alexander  III., 
under  whom  a  very  rich  treatment  of  Early  English  arose, 
that  is,  between  1210  and  1240.  This  edifice,  one  of  the 
greatest  in  the  North,  was  burned  during  the  war  with  Eng- 
land under  Richard  II.  in  1385.  The  abbey  was  restored 
after  this  disaster  and  used  by  the  canons  for  over  an  hun- 
dred years.  Many  improvements  were  made  in  the  structure 
and    adornment    of   the    abbey,    particularly    under    the    rule    of 


HOLYROOD 


67 


Abbot  Crawford,  a  wealthy  ecclesiastic,  who  is  said  to  have 
made  handsome  presents  to  the  abbey.  To  the  date  of  his 
administration  (1460-S3)  many  of  the  later  enrichments  of  the 
architecture  seem  to  correspond.  The  buttresses  of  the  north- 
ern side  were  rebuilt  and  enriched  with  canopies.  The  door- 
way in  the  north  side  was  cut  through,  or  perhaps  only 
entirely  remodelled,  for  its  ogee  moulding  and  rich  canopies 
are  of  fifteenth-century  work. 

During  this  period  Holyrood  became  a  favourite  resort  of  the 
royal  house  of  Stuart,  and  the  royal  apartments  were  greatly 
enlarged  and  beautified  until  they  rivalled  the  royal  palace  at 
Linlithgow.  Robert  III.  and  James  I.  made  the  abbey  tlieir 
chief  residence,  and  James  II.  was  born  within  its  walls. 
Here  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of  this  prince  to  Mary  of 
Guilders,  and  in  the  vault  below  the  choir  of  the  abbey  he 
was  buried  in  1460,  after  which  date  the  royal  burials  at  1  )im- 
fermlinc  ceased  and  the  Stuarts  made  Holyrood  the  third 
locum  scp2iltnrce  regium  in  Scotland. 

To  Holyrood  came  the  Princess  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Chri.-^tiaii  1.  of  Denmark,  to  be  the  bride  of  James  HI.;  and 
with  the  greatest  jiomj")  the  al)bey  had  ever  seen  that  famous 
daughter  of  tlie  Tudor  dynasty,  Margaret,  sister  of  1  Icnry  \  III., 
came  to  wed  King  James  IV.  This  monarch  found  the  royal 
apartments  of  the  abbey  t(jo  small  for  the  functions  of  .state, 
and   founded  in    1501    the   palace   of    Holyrood,  which,  however, 


68  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED  ABBEYS 

was  not  built  until  after  Flodden  by  James  V.  The  abbey 
became  now  the  centre  of  Scottish  court  life,  and  many  were 
the  nights  of  revelry  that  rung  through  the  King's  apartments 
and  were  reechoed   through   the   lonely   aisles   of    the    darkened 

"  Old  Holy-Rood  rung  merrily, 
That  night  with  wassail,  mirth,  and  glee ; 
King  James  within  her  princely  bower 
Feasted  the  Chiefs  of  Scotland's  power." 

And  what  scenes  of  despair  must  the  abbey  have  witnessed 
after  that  dread  day  on  Flodden  Field ! 

"  Snowdon's  Knight,"  familiarly  called  The  Gudeman  of 
Ballinbreich  by  his  loving  subjects,  built  the  palace  which  his 
father  had  founded  and  was  married  in  the  abbey  to  Mary  of 
Lorraine,  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Guise.  The  royal  resi- 
dence was  now  permanently  removed  from   Linlithgow,  and  the 

line 

"At  Holy- Rood  a  Knight  he  slew" 

is  eloquent  of  the  turbulent  character  of  the  Scottish  court  of 
the  period. 

In  1542  James  V.  was  buried  beneath  Holyrood's  aisle,  and 
little  Queen  Mary  began  her  checkered  career.  Later,  Mary 
of  Guise  was  buried  here. 

In  1544  the  Earl  of  Hertford  laid  violent  hands  upon  the 
abbey,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  destroyed  until 
three  years  later,  when  Somerset  drove  the   monks   from    their 


HOLYROOD  69 

home  and  stripped  the  lead  from  tlie  abbey's  roof.  Twenty 
years  later  the  church  had  fallen  greatly  to  decay,  so  that  the 
commendator  of  Holyrood  was  permitted  to  tear  down  the 
transepts  and  choir  and  to  sell  the  material  to  provide  funds 
for  the  refitting  of  the  nave  as  the  parish  church  of  Canon- 
gate.  At  this  time  the  royal  vault  was  removed  from  the 
choir  to  its  present  site  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  nave. 
But  before  this  a  most  famous  marriage  had  been  celebrated 
at  the  abbey,  that  of  the  beautiful  but  unfortunate  Mary  to 
Lord  Darnley.  A  little  later  Rizzio  was  laid  in  the  passage 
just  outside  the  abbey,  and  soon  after  the  troubles  of  Mary's 
reign  began,  which  resulted  in  another  sack  for  the  ill-fated 
abbey. 

Once  more  the  abbey  rose  phoenix-like  from  the  flames, 
when  its  nave  was  restored  and  embellished  for  the  coronation 
of  Charles  I.  as  king  of  Scotland.  It  was  now  consecrated  to 
the  service  of  tlie  Protestant  faith,  but  only  to  be  linall)-  de- 
molished toward  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the 
royal  vaults  were  desecrated  and  their  contents  scattered  o\er 
the  pavements  (lyGS). 

A  strange  fatality  seems  to  have  overhung  thr  history  of 
the  abbey  and  the  fortunes  of  those  connected  uith  it.  I  U-re 
lies  James  II.,  killed  by  the  bursting  of  a  gnn  ;il  i\o\bnigh. 
James  III.  was  married  here  and  aftcrwaids  killed  in  battle 
at    Sauchieburn.     James    I\^,    tiie    hapless    victim    of     M.uldcn, 


70 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED  ABBEYS 


lived  within  tlic  abbey  walls,  while  James  V.  moved  the 
court  hither,  lost  the  battle  of  Solway  Moss  in  1542,  died 
the  same  year,  and  was  buried  within  the  abbey,  leaving  the 
infant  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  to  play  out  another  act  in  the 
abbey's  history.  James  VI.  seems  to  have  avoided  the  fateful 
home  of  his  ancestors,  leaving  King  Charles  the  "  Martyr "  to 
close  the  dramatic  career  of  this  old  al^bey,  whose  life  had 
been  so  closely  interwoven  with  that  of  Scotland's  longest  and 
most  luckless  line  of  kings. 


HOLYROOD:    SCULPTURE   OVER   MAIN    POKIAL. 


CHAPTER   V 


JEDBURGH 


-'*l^j'^«*/»>C. 


There  is  probably  no  other  country 
district,  equally  small  in  area,  that  can 
boast  a  group  of  ruins,  at  once  so  great 
and  interesting,  as  those  situated  in  the 
north  of  Roxburghshire,  along  the  banks 
of  the  Tweed  and  its  little  tributary  the 
Jed.  Here  were  founded  almost  con- 
temporaneously, in  the  first  half  of  the 
twelfth  century,  four  great  abbeys,  which 
were  destroyed  at  the  same  time,  by 
the  same  ruthless  hands,  four  centui^ies  later,  and  which  now 
stand   in   ruin   ef|ually  desolate  and   ((jually   interesting. 

1  he  (jlde.^t  ol  these  is  the  abbey  of  Jedburgh,  already  men- 
tioned in  connection   with   St.    I  )avid's  early  church   building. 

It  is  not  piobabic  that  the  abbey  was  the  earliest  ecclesias- 
tical establisliiiitiit  in  llii>  place,  foi-  the  town  o(  jidwoitli  or  Jed- 
burgh was  already  ancient,  having  bciii  planted  by  Ih'shop  I-'.gred 
of  Lindisfarne  early  in  the   ninth  century,  and    its  castle  is  men- 

7» 


FRAGMENT  OF   ROMANESQUE 
AI/IAK-l'IKCE. 


72 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABP.EYS 


tioncd  by  the  earliest  Scottish  chroniclers.  We  cannot  believe 
that  this  ancient  saint  would  have  founded  a  town  without  a 
church,  but,  be  this  as  it  may,  the  original  establishment  soon 
lost   its    independent    existence    and    was    engrossed    in    that    of 


THE  ABBEY    FROM   THE    RIVER. 


the  abbey,  if,    indeed,  the  early  foundation  was  not  taken  as  a 
nucleus  for  the  later  and  greater  one. 

The  ruin  is  most  imposing  —  a  broken  and  rugged  mass  of 
walls  and  piers  surmounted  by  a  massive  tower.  The  abbey 
stands  well,  as  the  drawing  shows,  on  an  eminence  overlooking  the 
valley  of  the  Jed.     It  is  this  that  gives  the  ruin  half  its  grandeur. 


JEDBURGH 


n 


B' 


One  of  the  oldest  portions  of  the  ruin  is  the  lower  story 
of  the  fa9ade,  which  the  visitor  naturally  encounters  first. 
This  portion  is  a  fine  example 
of  Norman  strength  in  the  period 
of  its  richest  decoration.  The 
round  recessed  arches  are  pro- 
fusely ornamented  with  geomet- 
rical designs  and  are  supported 
upon  slender  colonettes. 

The  stories  of  the  fa9ade  rep- 
resent three  widely  separate  pe- 
riods of  style,  from  the  Norman 
of  the  portal,  through  the  early  l,'^^ 
pointed,  to  the  gable  pierced  by  a 
rose  window  with  delicate  flowing 
tracery. 

The    long   nave    of    nine    bays 
is    unroofed,    and    the    north    aisle 

wall   has   been   carried   away  for   building-stone,  but  it  is  other- 
wise in  a  comparatively  good  state  of  preservation. 

The  central  tower,  thirty  feet  square,  retaining  in  ruins 
almost  its  entire  hriglit,  was  ])artly  rebuilt  in  the  ihiilcenLh 
century.      Only  two  of   thr   massive    Nonnnn    piers   remain. 

The  choir  and  i)arts  of  the  transe|)ts  are  of  Xonnan  design. 
The   northern   arm   of   the   tran.sept   has  been    much    restored  in 


A.  Nare. 

B.  Clmir. 

lir 

r  Traniirpt. 
E.    Norman    Traa- 

K.    Cl«.i»t«r  ('(Mirt. 
i\.    NumwD  Furtal. 


1'^ 

K 

( 

■ 

}■ 

: 

■T 

»r^ 

1:- 

74 


SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 


comparatively  recent  times,  and  was  used  in  the  last  century  as 

a  place  of  worship. 

The    sanctuary    is   a   thirteenth-century   restoration,  and   one 

of  the  latest  parts  of  the  abbey. 

The  must   ancient  portion   of    the   church,  the   portion    that 

has  remained  from  the  foun- 
dation, and  which  David  in 
his  youth  saw  consecrated 
with  much  pomp,  is  the 
choir.  This  is  very  short 
in  proportion  to  the  length 
of  the  nave.  As  will  be 
seen  from  the  drawing,  it  is 
divided  into  bays  by  huge 
cylindrical  piers  extending 
to  the  springing  of  the  tri- 
forium  arches.  The  bays 
are  again  divided  by  less 
massive  piers.  The  arches 
of  the  ground  story  are  sup- 
ported between  these  piers, 
not  upon  colonettcs,  as  was 
' :  •i^.Mwlu»i,M^'^!^>^^l'''W  the    universal    method    from 

/-V  the  earliest  period,  but  upon 

JEDBUKUH  :    TWO    BAYS    OF   CHOIK.  ,  ,       ,  ^^, 

Point  2  on  Plan.  cumbci'some     corbcls.       1  he 


JEDBURGH 


75 


IN    (  IKHR    AISI.K. 


mouIdiniL^s  of  llic  archivolt,  of  wliicli  there  are  several,  end 
abruptly  an^ainst  the  piers;  the  broad  tiiforiiiin  arches  rest  upon 
the  cushion  capitals  of  the  iii.u'n  j)iers,  as  we  have  seen,  and 
embrace   a  sub-order   of    two   diminutive   pointed    arches   resting 


76  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

upon  low,  tliick  coloncttcs.  These  little  arches  were  pointed, 
owing  to  lack  of  space,  I  should  judge,  rather  than  from  choice. 
The  compound  capitals  of  the  great  piers  and  the  simple  caps 
of  the  colonettes  are  of  the  finely  fluted  cushion  type,  the 
mouldings  of  the  arches  are  purely  Norman,  heavy  and  simple. 
Those  of  the  triforium  are  enriched  by  the  use  of  zigzag  and  a 
bold  continuous  label.  Above  the  triforium  the  early  structure 
has  been  replaced  by  later  work,  but  at  the  springing  of  the 
great  tower  arches  in  the  northern  angles  are  preserved  two 
huge  corbels  of  Norman  design  and  several  voussoirs  orna- 
mented with  the  zigzag.  The  side  aisles  of  the  choir  were 
originally  vaulted  with  heavy  Norman  vaults  supported  by  ribs 
of  simple  section  and  somewhat  domed.  The  south  aisle  still 
shows  a  half  of  one  of  the  original  vaults,  the  other  half  having 
been  replaced  with  considerable  skill  late  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  One  of  the  drawings  illustrates  this  bit  of  Norman 
construction,  with  its  ribs  and  their  supporting  corbels  and  en- 
gaged columns ;  and  the  interesting  fragment  here  is  a  piece 
of  original  east  wall  preserving  a  window  jamb  with  colonette 
and  remnant  of  arch,  showing  that  in  Jedburgh  as  well  as  in 
the  later  churches  the  sanctuary  was  aisleless. 

This  same  style  of  solid  Norman  work  is  seen  also  in  the 
two  bays  of  the  transepts.  The  tower  arch  which  opens  into 
this  arm  of  the  south  transept  is  round-arched  and  simply 
moulded,  but  its  most   interesting  feature   is   the   remnant  of   a 


BKNEAIII     I1I1-;    loUlK,    I.IM)KIN<;    INK)    <  IKHU    ANH    .V>1   III     I  KANM-.I'I , 

Voiiil  J  on  I'luii, 


78  SCOILAND'S    RUIN  I'll)    yMJBKVS 

broad  barrel  vault  which  it  carries  across  its  entire  span. 
This  vault  springs  immediately  above  the  triforium  arches,  and 
its  masonry  is  of  the  same  general  style  as  the  Norman  work. 
If  this  be  a  fragment  of  the  original  structure,  it  is  indeed 
interesting  to  find  a  high  vault,  and  a  barrel  vault  at  that,  so 
far  in  the  north.  This  plan  of  structure  would  have  neces- 
sitated the  lighting  of  the  church  through  the  triforium  gallery, 
and  introduces  another  novel  question  in  Scottish  Romanesque. 
Above  the  vault  on  the  east  side  is  preserved  a  passageway 
and  stair,  which  w^as,  and  is  still,  the  mode  of  access  to  the 
tower. 

To  this  period  belongs  also  the  little  doorway  in  the  south 
wall  leading  into  the  garden.  On  the  plan  this  is  marked  G. 
It  is  a  beautiful  example  of  crude  but  free  sculpture.  Its 
series  of  arch  mouldings  are  interesting  in  the  extreme,  they 
include  so  many  of  the  varieties  of  Norman  mouldings. 

As  one  may  see  from  the  sketch,  the  weather  has  made 
serious  inroads  upon  the  lower  portion  of  the  work.  But  the 
thoughtful  owner  of  the  abbey  has  had  a  complete  restoration 
of  the  doorway  inserted  in  the  wall  beside  the  ancient  monu- 
ment at  a  little  distance.  From  this  the  architect  interested 
in    Romanesque  ornament  may  make  an  accurate  drawing. 

We  may  safely  place  all  this  work,  so  primitive  in  its  mas- 
siveness,  so  crudely  wrought,  among  the  earliest  specimens  of 
native  art  of  the  first  period  of  Norman  influence  in  Scotland. 


JEDBURGH 


79 


Yet    its    finely    fluted    capitals    and    the    beauty  of   some    of    its 
parts  would  assign  it  to  David's  time  rather  than  to  the  period 


Mi  i\ 


NOKMAN    rnMtK\V\V    IKAlUNli    INIO   (MUMI.K. 


of    [  )iinf(riiiliiic's    nave.       Surely    it    li.id    jiccn    coiujjK'trd    uIr'Ii 
tin-     I'rench    monks    arrivt-d.       Tiny    (ould    iml     have    been    re- 


So  SCOTLAND'S  RUINP:D  ABBEYS 

sponsible  for  a  piece  of  architecture  more  primitive  even  than 
tliat  of  a  church  ah-eady  old  in  their  own  city  of  Beauvais 
—  the  church  of  St.  Stephen  in  that  city  had  been  built  over 
fifty  years  when  they  left. 

The  presence  of  Norman  vc^ork  in  the  western  and  southern 
walls  and  in  the  piers  of  the  tower  adjoining  the  nave  would 
indicate  that  this  portion  of  the  edifice,  which  is  now  in  full 
pointed  style,  was  in  the  original  construction  of  Norman 
design.  It  is,  of  course,  possible,  as  has  been  suggested,  that 
the  nave  was  designed  on  Norman  lines  and  these  few  parts 
executed,  but  that  owing  to  some  delay  the  remainder  was  not 
carried  out  until  the  pointed  style  had  come  in  vogue  and  the 
plans  altered. 

There  are  no  records  to  show  that  there  was  ever  in  the 
history  of  the  abbey  a  disaster  in  its  early  days  that  might 
have  ruined  a  Norman  nave ;  nor  yet  any  evidence  that  there 
was  cause  for  a  long  delay  in  building  any  nave  at  all.  Either 
position  is  easily  tenable  in  the  absence  of  facts,  but  certain 
it  is  that  the  present  nave  is  not  of  late  construction.  The 
inner  walls  with  their  three  stories  of  arches  are  almost  intact. 
The  pointed  arches  and  clustered  columns  of  the  main  arcade 
present  forms  and  proportions  of  unmistakable  Ii^arly  English 
design.  The  fragments  of  aisle  vaults  manifest  evidence  of 
structure  quite  Gothic  in  character.  The  broad  triforium  arches 
are    round,   embracing   two  pointed    sub-arches    with   a  circular 


JEDBURGH 


8l 


opening  in  the  spandrel,  a  design  not  uncommon  in  Early  Eng- 
lish work,  seen  in  the  triforium  of  York  Minster.  The  clere- 
story,  within    and    without,    consists    of    a   continuous   series  of 


S0: 


PIERS  AND  AKCIIKS    OI-   TlIK    NAVK,    FROM    NOKllI    AISIK. 

I'oint  6  OH  Plan. 

narrow  pointed  lancets  ungrouped,  some  open  (o  form  win- 
dows. The  arcades  on  the  interior  form  a  fine  clerestory 
passage  around  the  nave,  hioni  the  (onsliiu  tion  and  design 
at  this  level,  it  is  n])parenL  thai  the  na\e  was  not  intended 
to  have  a  vaulted    roof. 


S2  SCOTLAND'S    RUINKL)    ABBEYS 

In  all  three  stories,  then,  we  have  a  fine  example  of  digni- 
fied first  pointed  style  on  English  lines,  but  in  the  details  we 
see  at  once  the  result  of  the  workings  of  an  influence  quite 
different.  The  abaci  of  the  capitals  of  the  clustered  columns 
and  colonettes  are  rectangular,  and  the  carving  of  the  capitals 
themselves,  the  bases,  the  profiles  of  all  the  mouldings,  are  far 
more  suggestive  of  the  French  style  of  the  transition  than  of 
insular  work.  These  capitals  with  their  abaci  are  strangely 
reminiscent  of  the  late  Norman  details  of  the  cathedral  of 
Bayeux.  The  design  of  their  conventionalized  foliage  even  in 
direct  comparison  is  strikingly  like  that  of  the  transitional 
churches  of  Laon  and  Beauvais.  Is  it  not  this  last  name 
that  gives  the  clew  to  the  appearance  of  detail  here  in  Jed- 
burgh, totally  unlike  anything  of  its  kind  in  Great  Britain? 
Is  it  not  the  work  of  the  monks  from  the  sfreat  Benedictine 
convent  at  Beauvais  that  we  see  in  these  elegantly  carved 
capitals  and  mouldings  ? 

If  this  is  so,  the  date  of  this  part  of  the  abbey  would  be 
fixed  considerably  before  the  opening  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
while  the  personnel  of  the  monastery  remained  distinctively 
French,  unrecruited  by  initiates  from  the  north   country. 

Soon  after  the  completion  of  the  nave  it  was  found  neces- 
sary, for  some  cause  now  unknown,  to  rebuild  the  eastern  bay 
of  the  choir;  from  the  latest  research  on  the  spot  it  has  been 
shown   that  this  restoration  was  carried  out  on  old  foundations. 


JEDBURGH  83 

SO  that  the  plan  of  the  choir  was  not  altered.  The  rebuilding 
was  of  course  in  pointed  style,  more  English  than  the  work  in 
the  nave,  but  clumsily  joined  to  the  older  part.  Very  little  of 
this  restoration  was  spared  in  the  later  catastrophe  that  befell 
the  abbey.  * 

If  a  barrel  vault,  like  that  of  which  a  fragment  remains  in 
the  transept,  covered  the  central  portion  of  the  choir,  it  was 
destroyed  at  the  time  of  this  rebuilding;  for  a  clerestory  was 
now  added  to  the  choir  with  an  arcaded  passage  like  that  in 
the  nave.  In  still  later  years  some  further  restorations  were 
undertaken  within  the  church  when  the  outer  wall  of  the  south 
transept  was  renewed  with  pointed  traceried  windows  and  the 
outer  half  of  the  aisle  vaults  was  renewed.  At  this  period  the 
north  transept  was  extended,  but  the  restorations  of  modern 
times  have  quite  obliterated  all  of  the  ancient  work. 

The  monastic  buildings,  situated  to  the  south  of  the  abbey 
upon  the  edge  of  the  steep  descent  to  the  river,  have  com- 
pletely disappeared.  Their  jDosition  was  one  that  would  make 
disintegration  easy  and  rapid  after  the  beginning  of  their 
destruction. 

The  site  of  the  old  cloister,  however,  is  lovely,  and  is  now  n 
bright  flower  garden,  the  pride  of  the  keeper  of  the  abbey, 
who  may  be  mentioned  as  one  of  the  most  agreeable  and  intel- 
ligent of  the  many  officers  of  this  kind  that  we  meet  in  (ireat 
Britain;    full   of    infoi'iiiation    and    dt'e|)ly    imbued    with    a    loving 


84  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED    ABBEYS 

interest    in    liis    charge,   he   is   able   to   communicate   his   enthu- 
siasm to  all  who  feel  the  slightest  interest. 

In  the  garden  a  few  remnants  of  ancient  sculpture  attract 
attention,  and  somewhere  in  safe  keeping  the  custodian  has 
some  carved  slabs  which  he  will  show  to  visitors.  These  have 
been  called  Celtic  remains,  but  the  most  beautiful  of  them  is 
an  arabesque  design  of  Romanesque  appearance.  It  was  prob- 
ably part  of  an  altar. 

The  history  of  Jedburgh  is  rather  obscure  after  its  founding 
by  David  I.,  while  he  was  only  Prince  of  Cumbria.  The  abbey 
must  have  increased  with  great  ra}Didity  in  worldly  wealth,  for 
the  extensive  church  edifice  that  we  have  to-day  was  built 
within  eighty  years  after  its  foundation. 

The  only  great  pageant  recorded  as  celebrated  within  the 
abbey  was  the  second  marriage  of  King  Alexander  III.,  in 
1285,  to  lolanda,  daughter  of  the  Count  of  Dreux.  This 
union  was  looked  upon  with  great  superstition  by  the  people, 
for  only  a  few  months  later  the  good  king  was  thrown  from 
his  horse  on  the  Fifeshire  coast,  and  killed,  leaving  no  issue 
but  the  Norway  Maid,  whose  untimely  death  ended  the  great 
line  of  Malcolm  and  St.  Margaret,  and  opened  Scotland  to 
twenty  years  of  troubled  warfare. 

Like  all  the  abbeys  of  the  border  country,  Jedburgh  suffered 
sack  at  the  hands  of  Edward   I.'s  army  during  the  war  for  inde- 


VIEW    IKOM     MIK   GARDEN. 


86 


SCOTLAND'S    RUINKD    AHHKVS 


pcndcnce;  but  although  the  domestic  buildings  were  demol- 
ished, and  the  roofs  and  tower  of  the  church  were  burned  at 
this  time,  the  main  portions  of  the  edifice  survived,  and  were 
promptly  restored.  It  was  probably  after  this  disaster  that 
the  south  aisle  vault  was  partially  ruined,  doubtless  owing  to 
the  destructive  action  of  fire. 

During  the  years  of  peace  that  followed  the  establishment 
of  the  house  of  Stuart  on  the  Scottish  throne,  the  monastery 
seems  to  have  flourished,  but  met  final  destruction  in  1554,  when 
Lord  Eure  invaded  Scotland  on  his  raiding  expedition ;  but 
the  portions  that  he  spared  and  that  the  townsmen  left  form 
one    of   the   most  beautiful  of  all  of  Scotland's    ruined   abbeys. 


CELTIC   SLAB   FOUND   AT   JEDBURGH   AliBEY. 


CHAPTER   VI 

KELSO 

Owing  to  their  situation  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  a  ])ordcr  upon  \vliicli  war  was  ahiiost  incessant  for  centuries, 
the  group  of  abbeys  along  the  Tweed  had  of  necessity  taken 
on  numerous  features  which  imparted  to  them  a  decidedly 
fortress-like  character.  This  was  especially  true  of  those  parts 
of  the  edifices  which  were  erected  durinfj;  the  late  twelfth  and 
early  thirteenth  centuries.  Castellated  forms,  such  as  angle 
towers  with  battlemented  tops,  narrow  slit  openings,  massive 
gr(jund  walls,  and  portals  which  might  be  barricaded  like  (hose 
of  rastles,  arc  some  of  the  relics  of  distant  days  when  the  hand 
that  held  the  crosier  could  wield  the  sword  with  equal  dignity; 
when  the  monk,  though  he  had  abjured  the  things  of  this 
world,  C(juld  at  a  moment's  notice  exchange  his  cowl  for  a 
helmet  of  steel,  his  staff  for  the  bow  and   s|)ear. 

No  finer  exami)l('  of  this  castellated  style  of  ecclesiastical 
architecture  can  be  found  in  Scotland  ihan  in  the  ruins  of  the 
al)bey  church  of  Kelso.  Wlicii  ,s((  n  lioni  .i  distance  it  is 
r|uite    imj)ossibl(j    to     distingnish     the     massi\'e    walls     of     Kelso 

87 


i4 
25 

o 

a 
m 
pa 
•< 

o 

>j 


KELSO 


89 


A.   NuTC. 
n.    t'huir. 
C.C.   TriinBppt. 
D.    Sucrinty  or 

Ctiaptor  Uouse. 


Abbey,  looming  up  on  the  horizon,  from  those  of  some  bold 
baronial  castle.  Its  turrets  and  battlemented  towers,  its  high 
narrow  openings,  its  solid,  unbroken  wall  surface,  would  indi- 
cate that  it  was  built  for  a  stronghold  alone.  It  is  only  when 
one  is  actually  within  the  enclosure  that  the  general  plan  and 
outline,  the  lines  of  scattered  and  broken  piers,  betray  the  re- 
ligious purpose  of  the 
edifice. 

As  a  ruin  Kelso 
is  complete ;  naught 
remains  in  position 
above  the  ground 
save  some  of  the 
heavier  walls.  Of 
these  there  arc  those 
of  the  nave  front  in 
]}art,      and       of       the 

transepts  C(jmplctc,  with  two  sides  of  the  central  tower, 
and  a  small  fragment  of  choir  wall  and  arcade.  The 
peculiarity  of  this  church  is  that  the  dimensions  of  nave 
and  choir  arc  reversed,  the  longer  end  being  the  eastern, 
while  the  nave  is  short  and  narrow,  having,  like  the 
transc]ots,  only  the  one  great  aisle,  of  (he  same  width 
as  the  central  tower.  It  is  curious  to  ol^serve  tliat  in 
their    ruin    the    front    wall    of    the    nave    and    the    great    central 


PLAN   OF   KELSO  ABBEV. 


90  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

tower  were  each  broken  in  halves,  as  if  cut  with  a  huge 
knife,  one  half  disappearing  completely,  the  other  still  stand- 
ing almost  intact.  So  accurate  was  this  severing  in  the 
front  wall  that  the  great  portal  is  represented  by  a  single 
cluster  of  columns  surmounted  by  one  half  of  a  recessed 
arch. 

The  structure,  or  what  remains  of  it,  is  pretty  nearly 
confined  to  a  single  epoch.  The  style  represented  is  prin- 
cipally late  Norman,  with  here  and  there  a  touch  of  early 
pointed  work.  The  abbey  was  founded  in  1128,  when  the 
first  signs  of  the  transition  were  beginning  to  manifest  them- 
selves in  France ;  but  the  full  bloom  of  the  Romanesque  had 
not  passed  in  the  North.  It  seems  to  have  been  completed, 
or  nearly  so,  in  1152,  while  the  Norman  style  was  still  linger- 
inor  in  the  confines  of  the  North.  The  arches  throuo;hout  are 
round,  the  capitals  severely  plain,  but,  in  the  higher  portions 
of  the  choir  especially,  the  slender  engaged  shafts  and  the  tall 
narrow  arcades  point  to  the  coming  change  which  was  already 
finding  expression  in  the  Early  English  work  across  the 
border.  The  tower  was  supported  upon  four  huge  clustered 
piers  of  Norman  design  with  pointed  arches.  The  two  sur- 
viving bays  of  the  south  wall  of  the  choir,  as  the  drawing 
shows,  have  broad  Norman  arches  and  heavy  cylindrical  piers 
of  grouped  columns. 

The    caps    of    these    piers    are    of    the    cushion    type    carved 


KELSO 


91 


with    the    fine    flutings    ah-eady    men- 
tioned as  characteristic  of    David  I.'s 


reign. 


Above  these  runs  a  low  triforium 
passage  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall, 
appearing  within  the  church  as  a 
continuous   round-arched   arcade   with 


''^||'!l^//''/''^'•'^'^^'^il!yfT^F:;(^'!i!!^'' 


KI'XSO:     AISLE  OF   CIIOIK. 

Point  4  on  Plan. 


92  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

very  slender  single    colonettes,  graceful    spreading   capitals,  and 
rich,  deeply  carved  mouldings. 

Above  the  triforium  appears  another  round-arched  arcade, 
but  this  is  supported  by  clusters  of  three  slender  colonettes 
with  compound  capitals  almost  transitional  in  design.  This 
arcade  was  carried  around  the  entire  church  at  the  same  level 
with  a  window  opening  out  of  each  bay. 

The  remnant  of  choir  aisle  shows  on  the  exterior  a  rem- 
nant of  heavy  Norman  vaulting,  so  we  may  conclude  that 
both  aisles  were  vaulted.  The  roofs  above  these  vaults  were 
carried  up  quite  high,  to  the  clerestory  ledge,  where  appear 
the  unmistakably  Romanesque  windows  of  the  uppermost  story. 

In  the  transepts  and  little  nave,  where  there  were  no  side 
aisles,  the  stories  were  arranged  differently  from  the  choir. 
In  the  ground  story  we  have  a  rich  wall  arcade  of  interlacing 
arches,  and  above  this,  window  openings,  large  on  the  interior 
and  quite  narrow  on  the  outer  surface  of  the  wall,  divided  in- 
ternally by  a  section  of  wall  flanked  by  nook  shafts  which  sus- 
tain the  simple  window  arches.  The  triforium  story  consists 
of  a  row  of  windows  similar  to  those  below  and  similarly  divided. 
A  passage  runs  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall  at  this  level.  Above 
the  triforium  is  the  clerestory  arcade  and  windows  already  de- 
scribed. 

The  high  portions  were  never  vaulted.  We  may  only  sur- 
mise what  the  style  of  the  structure  of  the  apse  and  choir  may 


KELSO 


93 


have    been ;  in   the   latter,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  picture,  two 
bays  have  given  us  a  clew.     We  are  very  safe  in  assuming  that 


KELSO:     INTKKIOK    KKOM    (IHUK. 
Point  2  on   Finn. 


this,  f)f  all  the  abbeys  we  are  studying,  was  one  that  knew  no 
restoration;  it  jx-rishcfl  as  it  had  been  founded,  a  monument  of 
late  Norman  work  in  Scotland. 


94  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

The  outer  angles  of  the  nave,  those  of  the  transepts  and 
tlic  great  tower,  were  jDrovided  witli  lieavy  square  towers  having 
circular  or  octagonal  crenellated  tops.  The  three  stories  are 
of  nearly  equal  height,  their  openings  are  Norman  in  style  and 
proportion,  and  are  separated  by  wide  pilasters ;  the  gables  of 
the  transepts  are  pierced  each  with  a  small  circular  window 
without  a  remnant  of  tracery.  The  most  interesting  portions, 
decoratively,  are  the  portals.  The  main  doorway,  alluded  to 
before,  though  sadly  broken,  preserves  a  few  bits  of  good  carv- 
ing, but  it  is  the  north  portal  that  attracts  our  attention  (see 
drawing).  This  portal  consists  of  a  set  of  round  arches  not 
deeply  recessed;  the  spandrels  of  the  arch  are  brought  to  a 
straight  line,  above  which  is  imposed  an  arcade  of  interlaced 
round  arches  upon  colonettes  of  equal  height;  above  them  the 
masonry  is  again  carried  up  several  courses  and  brought  to  a 
gable,  the  face  of  which  is  decorated  by  a  simple  pattern  of 
oblique  squares.  The  whole  design  gives  an  impression  of  grace 
and  symmetry  seldom  seen  in  Norman  work,  a  happy  blending 
of  solidity  and  lightness.  Nothing  in  the  ornament  or  the 
construction  suggests  the  transition,  yet  it  is  not  the  work  of 
the  Normans  who  built  the  nave  of  Dunfermline  or  the  walls 
of  Durham. 

Adjoining  the  south  wall  is  a  rather  narrow  barrel-vaulted 
structure  entered  by  a  door  of  good  Norman  design.  Within 
we  find  an  oblong  chamber  with  a  fine  interlaced  arcade  adorn- 


\j^^'  ',  ■^■"■"^"""'"■'""'iii;i':iwiii[ii,..,tji'Li^"j 

'i»llim/l'»Iiiinraiirmriiii,,,.,,;r....~:.!r~*--^y^ 


^i^^^"Pf!5ii|gfi. 


liwimiK     |l'*illiwilli" 


^Ji-  -^  /■/•  ":>-  -«<■'■• 


'''^%-  •..•'•^« 


Kl.lsii:     NnlMII    l-nKCII. 
Poin/  J  on  I'liin.     Coloiietles  restored. 


96  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 

ing  its  four  walls,  and  a  sort  of  continuous  seat  carried  all 
around.  An  opening  in  the  northeast  corner,  now  walled  up, 
doubtless  connected  with  the  church,  though  it  may  originally 
have  led  by  an  angle  to  the  cloister.  This  building  is  called 
the  Chapter  House ;  and  it  is  certainly  the  first  of  a  number  of 
monastic  buildings  of  two  stories  that  joined  the  transept  end, 
as  the  marks  of  gabled  construction  are  still  visible  upon  the 
wall.  But  this  would  have  been  an  unusual  location  for  a 
chapter  house,  directly  adjoining  the  church,  and  is  much  more 
likely  to  have  been  the  sacristy.  But  it  is  difficult  to  tell 
whether  the  cloister  court  adjoined  the  choir  or  the  nave.  In 
the  latter  case,  the  exceedingly  short  nave  would  have  afforded 
little  protection  to  the  garth :  if  the  cloister  took  the  more  un- 
usual position,  it  is  strange  to  find  the  entrance  to  the  remain- 
ing chamber  on  the  west.  This  point  raises  the  question 
whether  this  was  perhaps  not  merely  a  passage. 

The  entire  edifice  as  we  have  it,  unique  as  a  specimen  of 
a  style,  the  persistent  use  of  Romanesque  forms  throughout, 
with  a  highly  refined  treatment  of  details,  the  frank  employ- 
ment of  the  pointed  arch  in  the  supports  of  the  tower,  all 
foreshadow  the  transition,  and  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
style  of  David's  reign  was  not  like  the  barbaric  Norman  of 
the  last  twenty-five  years  of  the  eleventh  century,  nor  yet  the 
still  heavy  style  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  twelfth,  but  a  lighter 
and  more   elegant   system  of  construction  and  a  more  graceful 


KELSO  97 

theor}'-  of   design    that    distinguishes   it    from    earher   phases   of 
northern   Romanesque. 

The  abbey  of  Kelso  was  founded  in  1128,  four  years  after 
David's  coronation.  Twenty-five  years  later  David  laid  his 
son,  Henry  Earl  of  Northumberland,  in  a  tomb  within  the 
walls  of  the  church.  This  honour  was  of  course  accompanied 
with  heavy  endowments,  and  the  abbey  buildings  became  more 
and  more  extensive.  The  establishment  was  one  for  Tirone- 
sian  monks,  an  order  of  Cistercians  w^hose  founder,  Bernard 
the  Elder,  though  trained  in  an  order  of  strictest  asceticism, 
took  for  himself  and  his  followers  a  different  view  of  life,  one 
of  utilitarianism.  While  the  older  order  courted  temptation, 
in  order  to  resist  it,  and  mortified  the  flesh,  the  new  order 
sought,  by  keeping  their  hands  well  employed,  to  give  Satan 
no  opportunity.  They  followed  those  worldly  pursuits  which 
involved  manual  labour.  The  lands  of  the  abbey  were  care- 
fully and  extensively  tilled  by  them ;  some  of  them  were  car- 
penters, others  were  stonecutters  and  masons.  Specimens 
of  the  handicraft  of  the  last  two  still  remain.  It  is  to  these 
skilful  monks  tliat  we  owe  the  masterful  work  upon  the 
north  transept  with  its  excpiisite  portal,  the  delicate  mould- 
ings of  till-  arrades  ulii(  li  make  them  seem  too  diu'  for 
Norman  woik,  and  tlic  skilful  adju.stnieiii  of  the  tower  to  its 
supp(jrts. 


H 


98  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 

With  the  increase  of  endowments  and  benefices  the  abbey 
soon  became  the  richest  and  largest  in  Scotland.  In  1165, 
Pope  Alexander  III.  conferred  the  mitre  upon  the  Abbot  of 
Kelso,  and  gave  the  abbey  precedence  over  all  the  monastic 
institutions  in  the  Kingdom.  In  the  disputes  that  -arose  as 
to  the  succession  of  the  monarchy  after  the  death  of  the 
Maid  of  Norway,  the  Abbot  of  Kelso  represented  the  inter- 
ests of  John  Baliol,  and  was,  in  consequence,  not  highly  in 
favour  after  the  advent  of  Bruce  to  the  throne.  In  modern 
times  a  portion  of  the  abbey  was  converted  into  a  prison, 
which  Scott  makes  the  jail-house  of  Eddie  Ochiltree. 

The  church  seems  to  have  escaped  the  ravages  of  the  wars 
with  Edward  I.  and  the  subsequent  invasions,  for  no  vestige 
of  restoration  in  decorated  or  perpendicular  style  is  to  be 
found.  But  neither  Kelso  nor  any  other  establishment  in  the 
Middle  Marches  was  spared  the  violence  of  the  Earl  of  Hert- 
ford and  other  of  Henry  VIII.'s  relentless  emissaries  (1545). 
The  story  of  the  taking  of  Kelso  is  a  most  thrilling  one.  A 
large  force  of  the  English  had  surrounded  the  abbey,  artillery 
was  mounted  close  to  its  walls  and  the  storminij:  besfan.  The 
brave  defenders  were  driven  from  the  embattled  close  to 
the  buildings  near  the  church.  Obliged  to  yield  one  after 
another  of  these,  they  finally  withdrew  to  the  church,  with 
hopes  of  saving  themselves  and  it,  but  the  stout  walls  and 
defence   towers  had   not  been    built   to   withstand   the  shock   of 


KELSO  99 

cannonade  and  could  not  hold  out  lono^.  When  a  breach 
had  been  made  and  the  earl  had  offered  a  reward  to  the 
men  who  should  first  scale  the  walls,  a  band  of  Spanish  mer- 
cenaries charged  and  were  soon  in  possession  of  the  church ; 
a  few  of  tlie  surviving  monks  took  refuge  in  the  tower, 
where  a  single  man  at  the  top  of  the  winding  stairs  could 
hold  his  place  against  the  invaders.  This  place  they  held 
all  night,  escaping  at  dawn  on  the  following  day.  The 
'*  house "  was  then  demolished  and  has  ever  since  lain  in 
desolation,  of   which  — 

"  No  legend  needs  to  tell, 
For  story's  pen  must  fail  to  write 
What  ruin  paints  so  well." 


CHAPTER   VII 


MELROSE 

Every  one  who  has  been  in  Scotland,  and 
every  one  who  knows  Scott,  is  more  or  less 
acquainted  with  Melrose  and  its  beautiful,  historic 
abbey. 

But  few  who  have  read  the  advice  — 

*'  If  thou  wouklst  see  fair  Melrose  aright, 
Go  visit  it  by  the  pale  moonlight"  — 

few  even  of  those  who  have  had  opportunity  to 
take  the  hint,  have  thought  of  the  abbey  as  any- 
thing more  than  a  picturesque  ruin,  enchanted  by 
some  mysterious  sentiment  and  surrounded  by  a 
dim  halo  of  associations  which  mean  little  or 
nothing  to  them.  Then  the  guide-books  have  something  to 
say  about  the  abbey's  being  rich  in  association  of  this,  that, 
and  the  other  Scottish  hero,  prince,  or  poet.  Then,  too, 
there  are  a  number  of  indecipherable  Latin  inscriptions  which 
might  convey  a  clew  to  the  identity  of  the  illustrious  dead 
who   are    said    to    repose    there.      So    that    the    impression    left 


ST.   ANDREW   OF 
MELROSE. 


lOO 


MELROSE 


lOI 


upon  the  mind  by  a  visit  to  Melrose  is  one  of  beauty,  but 
one  vague  and  intangible  in  the  extreme.  There  is  certainly 
a  charm  about  Melrose  which  is  not  shared  by  any  other 
of  the  abbeys  of  Scotland ;  due  not  only  to  the  manifold 
legends    and    traditions    that    are    interwoven    with    its    history, 


/> 


Mi^m 


MiM 


■m^ 


.'*M 


MEI.ROSE   AHHKY,    IKOM    S.W. 


I 


but  to  the  peculiar  beauty  of  the  ruin,  the  rare  delicacy  of 
the  workmanship,  and  llic  (  iiulc  ric-liiicss  of  its  sculpture;  for 
the  (  luirc  li  was  nbiiilt  wlu'ii  tlie  (".olliic  style  was  in  full, 
even  late  bloom,  and  the  eliaraeter  ol  the  .stone  used  is  such 
that,  hardening  with  age,  it  preserves  the  nu*nut(\st  details 
of    carving    in    tracery    and    in    sculpture.       So    that,    though    a 


I02  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

most  complete  ruin,  Melrose  does  not  tend  to  disintegrate 
and  crumble  into  the  mould  again,  but  holds  its  own,  rich 
and  beautiful  though  shattered,  more  lovely  perhaps  because 
it  has  been  so  mellowed  by  being  left  to  itself  and  the 
weather,  its  only  occupants  the  bats,  the  owls,  and  the 
lichens. 

Melrose,  a  quaint  and  ancient  village  on  one  of  the  direct 
lines  between  London  and  Edinburgh,  has  few  attractions  to 
offer  beside  its  famous  abbey.  Whatever  else  of  beauty  or  of 
interest  it  may  possess  is  completely  eclipsed  by  the  stately 
grandeur  of  its  massive  ruin. 

The  abbey  does  not  stand  aloof  from  the  cluster  of  more 
humble  cottages  which  form  the  hamlet,  and  has  permitted 
them  to  nestle  about  its  very  walls  on  two  sides ;  but  to  the 
south  and  east  lies  the  old  burial  ground ;  beyond  this  the  open 
country  stretches  away  toward  the  Eildon  Hills. 

Unlike  many  of  the  abbeys  that  we  have  been  looking  at, 
Melrose  stands,  in  some  of  its  parts  at  least,  in  a  very  good 
state  of  preservation.  As  the  plan  indicates,  the  walls  and 
vaults  of  the  apse  are  complete ;  the  transept  walls  and  a  few 
of  its  vaults  are  also  standing ;  the  tower  has  fallen,  leaving 
only  the  western  side.  The  three  bays  westward  of  the  tower, 
comprising  the  choir  (this  was  the  position  of  the  choir  in 
many  Cistercian  churches),  are  complete,  with  vaulted  aisles 
and    the  chapels  of   the  south    aisle.     The  western  end    of   the 


MELROSE 


103 


choir  is  marked  by  a  heav}'  rood  screen ;  beyond  this  naught  of 
the  nave  remains  save  five  unroofed  chapels  of  the  south  aisle. 


The  abbey,  though  founded  in  11 36  and  built  immediately 
thereafter,  preserves  no  vestige  of  its  primitive  structure  unless 
the  core  of  the  heavy  north 
wall  of  the  nave  and  the 
west  wall  of  the  north  tran- 
sept, now  hidden  in  a  later 
revetment  of  cut  stone,  can 
claim  to  be  of  the  original 
foundation. 

The  earliest  part   of   the 
ruin   is   the   magnificent  sec- 
tion   of    the    nave,  which,  as 
we    have    seen,  was    brought   ^;„'|7,;^„ 
mto  requisition  as  a  portion    d. i..  Tra„„.pt. 
of    the    choir.      These    three    0.  «a»X- 

II.  II.    Chnpoll  ot 

bays  are   i)rolxibly  the  finest    k  i...,rr" 

M.    S'Mitli  I'l.rtal. 

specimen    of    the    decorated    "  ix^nuuiuuiM,. 

style    north    of    the    Cheviot 

Hills,     and      manifest     their 

kinship   with   Whitby  and   the   Abbey  of    Fountains.      We   have 

here    three    bays,    \villi    fmc    groiij^s    of    sKiukr    columns    whose 

capitals    are    richly    and    delicately    wrought    in    foliate    designs. 


PLAN   (>!■•   MELROSE  AHUKY. 


I04  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 

broad,  pointed  arches  heavily  moulded,  and  above  them  an 
interesting  combination  of  triforium  and  clerestory.  It  com- 
prises, first,  a  passage  above  the  main  arches,  divided  from  the 
open  space  beneath  the  aisle  roofs  by  a  curtain  wall.  The 
passage  appears  within  the  nave  in  two  openings  in  each  bay, 
provided  with  a  traceried  balustrade.  These  openings  are  car- 
ried up  to  embrace  the  clerestory  window,  which  opens  in 
cusped  lancets  over  the  aisle  roof.  The  arrangement  is  strik- 
ing and  effective.  The  bays  are  divided  one  from  the  other 
by  a  cluster  of  delicate  vaulting  shafts,  which  rise  from  corbels, 
just  above  the  main  capitals,  in  true  English  fashion,  to  sup- 
port a  radiating  group  of  slender  ribs.  In  this  part  of  the 
church  a  pointed  tunnel  vault  has  been  inserted,  in  compara- 
tively recent  times,  to  sustain  the  Gothic  vault.  This  uncouth 
structure  completely  hides  the  northern  half  of  the  nave  vault, 
and  all  but  conceals  the  other ;  but  a  minute  examination 
reveals  the  original  construction  as  described  above. 

The  side  aisles  at  this  point  are  also  vaulted;  the  north 
aisle,  being  much  narrower  than  the  other,  is  consequently 
much  domed.  This  discrepancy  in  measurement  was  in  all 
probability  due  to  a  change  of  proportions  at  the  time  of 
rebuilding,  and  the  cloister  court  stood  in  the  way  of  widening 
this  aisle  when  the  nave  and  south  aisle  were  enlarged. 

The  vault  structure  of  the  south  aisle  is  of  later  construc- 
tion than  that  opposite,  and  is  doubtless  coeval  with  the  eight 


MELROSE  105 

chapels  of   this  aisle  which   are  among  the  latest  additions  to 
the  abbey. 

The  rood  screen  which  delineated  the  province  of  the  choir 
within  the  nave  is  a  massive  structure  of  one  story,  well  pre- 
served ;  the  arched  opening  in  its  centre  is  vaulted  in  the 
thickness  of  the  wall,  within  which  a  narrow  stair  leads  to  the 
top  of  the  screen  or  organ  loft.  That  another  screen  separated 
this  choir  from  the  side  aisles  is  clear  from  the  fraijments  of 
wall  to  be  found  incorporated  with  the  piers  as  part  of  the 
original  design. 

The  remains  in  decorated  style  embrace  also  the  west  and 
north  walls  of  the  north  transept,  the  remaining  half  of  the 
tower  with  its  two  piers,  the  first  bay  of  the  south  transept 
next  to  the  crossing,  and  the  glorious  south  end  witli  the 
walls  of  the  adjoining  bay  of  the  transept  aisle.  The  north 
transept  wall  is  almost  }Derfcctly  plain  on  the  ground  story, 
broken  only  at  the  north  end  by  a  low  round-arched  door- 
way leading  into  the  sacristy,  and  another,  somewhat  elevated 
and  originally  reached  by  a  straight  flight  of  steps  that  con- 
nected with  the  uj)per  story  of  the  domestic  part  of  the  mon- 
astery. Above  these  doorways  the  north  wall  is  pierced  by 
three  simi)]e  lancets  crowned  by  a  small  wheel  window  of  con- 
siderable dej)th.  The  ui)per  story  of  the  adjoining  bays  of  ihc 
western  wnll  corresj)on(ls  with  llie  arrangement  in  the  nave, 
except    that   the   passage    is    somewhat    lower   and    the   windows 


-/C 


MELROSE:     END    OF    SOMIM     IKANSEIT, 


MELROSE  107 

thus  elongated,  while  the  bays  to  the  right  and  left  of  the 
crossing  are  in  all  respects  like  the  bays  of  the  nave,  but 
narrower,  having  single  instead  of  double  windows. 

The  next  two  bays  to  the  south  are  of  later  building;  but 
the  entire  south  end  is  in  the  finest  style  of  the  decorated 
period.  The  doorway  is  treated  in  later  style ;  but  the  great 
window  which  almost  fills  the  space  beneath  the  wall  rib  of 
the  vault  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  Great  Britain.  Perhaps 
the  sketch  of  the  window,  with  the  door  below  and  the  ele- 
gant series  of  niches  above,  will  give  a  clearer  idea  than  words 
of  the  exterior  form  of  this  transept  end. 

The  tracery  of  this  window  is  exceedingly  rich  and  flowing, 
and,  fortunately,  perfect  as  when  glazed.  The  delicate  jamb 
mouldings  and  slender  shafts,  the  graceful  sculptured  heads, 
are  all  in  the  same  style  as  the  window,  but  the  rich  ogee 
mouldings  and  the  sumptuous  canopied  niches  are  probably  a 
little  later.  To  this  second  period  also  belongs  all  of  the  im- 
portant buttress  system  of  the  exterior  with  its  flying  arches 
and  decorated  pinnacles. 

All  tlie  remainder  of  the  choir  and  transepts  is  in  another 
style,  the  date  of  which,  from  its  perpendicular  tendencies,  we 
cannot  fix  much  before  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
The  manner  in  which  the  later  work  is  joined  to  the  old,  the 
amount  oi  patching  tliat  is  evident,  make  it  clear  that  the 
rebuilding   was   done    as   the    result    of    disaster   rather   than    by 


loS 


SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 


desio'ii.  BeQ:innin2:  at  the  west,  the  first  bit  of  this  work  is 
discovered  in  the  west  wall  of  the  south  transept,  where  two 
bays    are    inserted    between    the   decorated  work   adjoining    the 


vst.a^ 


7 


MELROSE:    WEST  WALL   OF   SOUTH   TRANSEPT. 


From  Point  3  on  Plan, 

tower  and  the  south  window.  One  of  these  bays  is  perfectly 
plain  on  the  interior,  the  other  manifests  its  late  period  in  the 
clerestory,  which,  though  preserving  the  level  of  the  older  work, 
consists    in    the    interior    of    a    broad    mullioned    and    traceried 


MELROSE 


109 


opening    that    fills    the    entire    bay,  and   on    the    exterior    of    a 

similar   window  with   a    different   pattern    of    tracery,  a   pattern 

that  could  be  considered  to  belong  to  the  older 

work.     Next    to    this    bay    is    a    beautiful    little 

octagonal   stair  tower,   adorned   with   niches    and 

gargoyles    and    terminating    in    a   low    crocketed 

spire. 

The  eastern  portions  of  the  choir  and  the 
adjacent  bays  and  chapels  were  greatly  damaged 
by  the  fall  of  the  tower,  which  carried  down 
most  of  the  vaults,  but  enough  was  spared  to 
speak  for  the  rest. 

The  whole  eastern  aisle,  except  the  south 
bay,  with  the  two  bays  of  the  choir  east  of  the 
crossing  and  the  aisleless  sanctuary,  are  all  in 
the  same  style  and  are  built  of  a  different  stone 
from  that  of  the  older  parts  of  the  building,  a 
stone  of  a  more  yellow  hue.  The  clustered 
piers  here  are  of  different  section  from  those  of 
the  decorated  period,  and  the  flowing  cai)itals 
give  jjlace  to  moulded  ones  adoincd  with  con- 
ventional rosettes  or  Tudor  flowers.  The  com- 
bined triforium  and  clerestory  —  the  general  plan  of  which  was 
borrowed  fiom  the  older  portions  of  the  church  —  now  almost 
fills  with  its  openings  the  entire  width  of  each  bay,  as  we  have 


mki.kosk:  stair 

lOW'KK    IN    SOl'IH 
TKANSK.IT. 


no  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 

already  seen  in  tlic  first  of  the  new  work.  In  the  eastern 
aisle  and  choir,  however,  the  outer  tracery  of  the  window 
stiffens  into  fully  developed  perpendicular.  The  sanctuary  has 
no  triforium  nor  clerestory,  but  is  provided  with  three  huge 
richly  traceried  windows,  the  central  one  of  which,  though 
unique,  is,  like  its  companions,  more  of  perpendicular  than  any 
other  style.  The  tracery  of  the  window  to  the  south,  as  we 
may  discover  in  the  sketch  of  the  apse,  takes  the  form  of  a 
tall  central  cross  between  two  smaller  ones,  and  is  said  to 
symbolize  Calvary. 

The  vaulting  of  the  parts  east  of  the  nave  is  of  two  epochs, 
the  one,  coeval  with  the  lower  work  in  the  transepts,  and 
bearing  on  one  of  its  keystones  the  arms  of  Abbot  Hunter 
(1450-60),  is  provided  with  extra  ribs  or  tiercerons  introduced 
for  a  richer  effect,  and  the  other,  that  over  the  sanctuary, 
which  is  of  very  late  type  and  is  practically  a  barrel  vault 
adorned  with  a  network  of  fine  ribs,  a  species  of  vault  struc- 
ture in  vogue  just  before  the  introduction  of  fan  vaulting  in 
England.  The  row  of  chapels  adjoining  the  south  aisle  of 
the  nave  seems  to  have  been  added  at  two  periods,  the  first 
at  about  the  same  time  that  the  repairs  were  undertaken,  in 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  other  in  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth. 

These  dates  are  arrived  at  by  marks  left  upon  the  work, 
presumably  during   its   construction.     The    first    and    fifth    but- 


MELROSE  1 1 1 

tresses  east  of  the  transept  bear  the  arms  of  Abbot  Hunter, 
which  would  not  be  Hkely  to  have  been  added  after  1460; 
while  the  eighth  is  embellished  with  the  royal  arms,  the  letters 
I.  Q.  (Jacobus  Quartus),  and  the  date  1505,  showing  the  inter- 
est of  James   IV.  in  the  abbey. 

This  series  of  aisle  chapels  is  simply  an  outer  aisle  divided 
by  light  partitions  between  the  piers  and  wall  buttresses.  The 
piers  consist  of  beautiful  clustered  shafts  with  freely  carved 
capitals.  The  windows  are  spacious  and  filled  with  varied  forms 
of  early  decorated  tracery,  which  seems  to  be  a  stumbling-block 
to  those  who  wish  to  assign  to  them  a  date  after  the  middle 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  It  seems  quite  plain,  however,  that 
this  tracery  is  the  original  adornment  of  the  decorated  nave  — 
that  when  the  chapels  were  built  the  tracery  of  the  aisle 
windows  was  simply  moved  to  the  outer  wall ;  for  this  was  a 
work  of  expansion,  not  restoration,  and  the  tracery  of  the 
windows  being  in  perfect  condition  did  not  require  to  be  re- 
newed. The  vaulting  of  these  chapels  is  intricate,  and  evi- 
dently late.  The  adjoining  aisle  seems  to  have  been  revaulted 
at  the  time  the  chapels  were  added. 

The  exterior  of  Melrose  is  in  some  respects  more  French 
in  ai)pearance  tlian  any  ecclesiastical  edifice  in  Scotland.  The 
prominent  buttresses  are  provided  with  canoj^ied  niches,  some 
of  wliich  retain  their  sculpture;  sleiuler  ])ier  hutti'csses  rising 
tlii()iiL;h    the   aisle    roof    to   support  sets    of    two   Hying  jjuttresses 


112  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

arc  also  adorned  with  niches  and  terminate  in  richly  decorated 
Gothic  pinnacles.  The  deep  mouldings,  the  wealth  of  gro- 
tesque gargoyles  and  other  figures,  make  it  seem  so  like  early 
French  Gothic  work  that  we  may  assume  a  French  architect, 
or  at  least  a  student  of  French  architecture,  designed  portions 
of  the  abbey,  and  that  some  of  the  builders,  those  Cistercian 
monks,  had  come  from   France. 

The  two  periods  of  style  are  manifest  without  as  within, 
though  not  in  the  same  degree.  If  we  compare  the  design 
and  construction  of  the  buttresses,  with  their  pinnacles  and 
canopied  niches  and  the  flying  arches  of  the  eastern  portions 
of  the  edifice  with  the  same  details  in  the  western  end,  we 
shall  find  a  very  considerable  difference  in  character  and  type. 

The  sculpture  within  and  without  is  rich  and  plentiful  for 
a  northern  clime.  The  interior  abounds  in  beautiful  capitals 
and  mouldings  carved  in  most  delicate  foliate  designs.  The 
variety  is  remarkable,  almost  all  of  the  native  leaves  being 
wrought  in  the  hard  brown  stone;  the  oak  leaf  and  the  thistle 
are  prominent.  Most  graceful  and  flowing  and  most  deeply 
carved  is  the  capital  of  the  easternmost  column  in  the  south 
aisle ;  the  design  is  a  naturalistic  treatment  of  the  domestic 
Scotch  kale ;  so  humble  and  so  crude  in  nature,  it  becomes 
most  rich  and  delicate  in  the  sphere  of  art. 

A  corbel  in  the  north  transept  is  ornamented  with  the  form 
of  a  female  hand  clasping  a  spray  of  flowers;  the  execution  of 


MELROSE  113 

this  charming  design  is  equal  to  that  of  the  best  French 
Gothic  sculpture.  The  ponderous  keystones  of  the  fallen  high 
vaults  have  been  preser\^ed  by  themselves,  They  represent 
human  heads  with  masses  of  flowing  hair.  The  boss  of  the 
great  central  tower  represents  the  head  of  David  I. ;  another 
is  that  of  his  queen,  Matilda;  a  third  is  something  like  the 
head  of  Medusa.  This,  tradition  says,  represents 
the  head  of  Michael  Scott,  the  famous  wizard,  who 
was  buried  here  in  the  east  corner  of  the  south 
chancel  chapel,  if  we  may  believe  the  account  given 
in  the  "  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel.  There  is  an-  head  of 
other  boss,  smaller  but  most  attractive,  that  of  the  "^charl^  scott 
diminutive  vault  under  the  rood  screen.  It  repre-  keystone. 
sents    the    head    of    our    Lord    wearing    the    crown    of    thorns. 

The  walls  of  the  numerous  chapels  throughout  the  church 
edifice  bear  some  beautiful  specimens  of  carved  piscinas  and 
ambries.  These,  as  well  as  more  important  details,  manifest 
the  handiwork  of  artists  trained  in  different  epochs  of  archi- 
tectural history. 

The  figure  sculpture  of  the  interior  is  not  especially  fme, 
but  is  interesting  in  this  locality;  a  few  of  the  niches  contain 
their  statues,  one  of  St.  liridget  in  a  cha])cl  dedicated  to  that 
saint  in  the  south  transept,  two  of  St.  Teler  and  Si.  Paul  in 
niches  with  well-preserved  canopies  in  the  west  wall  of  the 
north    transept.      These,    with    a    few    grotescjue    figures    in    the 


114  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

balustrade  below  the  great  south  window,  would  indicate  that 
the  church  was  the  possessor  of  a  rare  collection  of  barbaric 
Gothic  sculpture  when  its  destruction  came. 

The  exterior  was  quite  as  rich  in  the  handiwork  of  the 
sculptor;  the  gables  are  filled  with  a  stepped  series  of  canopied 
niches ;  the  slender  pinnacles  and  the  flying  buttresses  are 
richly  adorned  with  crockets  and  finials ;  every  buttress  had 
its  niche  of  statuary,  the  canopies  of  which  are  most  exqui- 
sitely carved  and  well  preserved.  Iconoclastic  hands  in  early 
Reformation  times  robbed  the  majority  of  the  niches  of  their 
"  images,"  leaving  only  a  scant  half-dozen.  The  niche  of  the 
westernmost  pier  buttress  contains  a  group  representing  the 
Virgin  and  Child  beneath  a  tabernacle.  The  next  niche 
holds  St.  Andrew.  It  would  seem  as  if  these  two,  the  figures 
of  the  Virgin  and  the  national  saint,  had  been  purposely 
spared. 

The  central  and  uppermost  niche  of  the  series  in  the  eastern 
gable  is  occupied  by  an  interesting  group  representing  the 
coronation  of  the  Virgin,  a  favourite  subject  with  the  Cistercian 
order.  Other  sculpture  is  seen  in  a  niche  bracket,  where  a 
group  of  two  figures  represents  the  blind  carrying  the  lame 
—  a  curious  composition.  A  number  of  grotesque  gargoyles, 
decorative  heads  and  figures,  finely  carved  and  vigorously 
designed,  complete  the  remains  of  the  abbey's  sculptured 
decoration. 


MELROSE  1 1 5 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century  that  Eata, 
one  of  the  companion  monks  of  St.  Aidan,  who  with  the  saint 
had  set  out  from  the  holy  precincts  of  lona  to  convert  the 
lowlands,  set  foot  in  Melrose,  and  upon  an  eminence  almost 
surrounded  by  a  loop  of  the  winding  Tweed  founded  a  reli- 
gious retreat. 

The  cell  of  Eata  became  famous  in  the  lonely  vale  of 
Tweed.  Hither  in  his  youth  came  the  saintly  Cuthbert,  who 
later  became  bishop  of  all  Northumbria,  with  his  throne  in 
Lindisfarne.  In  later  years  the  monks  of  Lindisfarne,  driven 
from  their  home  by  the  furious  Danes,  fled  to  Melrose,  bring- 
ing: with  them  the  sacred  bones  of  St.  Cuthbert. 

"The  monks  fled  forth  from  Holy  Isle 
O'er  northern  mountain,  marsh,  and  moor, 
From  sea  to  sea,  from  shore  to  shore, 
Seven  years  St.  Cuthbert's  corpse  they  bore. 
They  rested  him  in  fair  Melrose  ; 
But  though,  alive,  he  loved  it  well, 
Not  there  his  relics  might  repose." 

Nor  were  they  willing  to  rest  in  a  number  of  places  tried 
by  the  weary  monks,  until  they  finally  reached  the  "lordly 
scat"  where  now  the  towers  of  majestic  Durham  "look  down 
upon   the  Wear." 

Althonu;!"!  dniiiiL!;  ibe  eleventh  century,  when  the  Culdee 
Chnr(  h     was    rapidly    losing    ground,    the    cell   at    Melro.se    had 


ll6  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

almost  disappeared,  it  was  again,  toward  the  end  of  the  century, 
of  sufificient  importance  to  be  a  place  of  retirement  for  the 
monk  Tiirgot,  the  confessor  of  the  saint-queen  Margaret,  who 
later  held  the  foremost  see  of  the  Kingdom  as  Bishop  of  St. 
Andrews.  But  when  under  the  new  ecclesiastical  influence 
David  I.  refounded  the  convent  of  Melrose,  it  was  decided  to 
move  the  site  some  two  and  half  miles  up  the  river. 

Melrose  Abbey  was  consecrated  with  great  solemnity  in 
1 146,  ten  years  after  its  founding,  —  an  extensive  edifice  of  Nor- 
man character  to  be  the  home  of  a  body  of  Cistercian  monks 
imported  from  Rievalle  in  Yorkshire,  the  pioneers  of  their 
order  in  Scotland.  Heavily  endowed  by  David  I.  in  its  origi- 
nal charter,  the  abbey  was  constantly  enriched  by  gifts  from 
the  Crown  and  from  noble  families  until  it  became  a  treasure- 
house  of  rare  and  costly  works  of  art  and  a  centre  of  monas- 
tic learning;  for,  we  are  told,  many  of  the  monks  of  Melrose 
spent  their  lives  at  the  weary  task  of  copying  and  transcribing 
the  abbey's  store  of  books  and  ancient  manuscripts  brought 
from   France. 

The  endowment  of  Melrose  did  not  cease  with  the  death  of 
David;  in  1238  Alexander  II.,  w^ho  was  a  great  patron  of  the 
abbey,  and  who  chose  it  for  his  last  resting-place,  presented 
the  abbey  with  the  extensive  lands  of  Ettrick  Forest. 

To-day  in  the  apse  one  is  shown  an  ancient  stone  which  is 
said   to  have   covered  the  tomb  of  King  Alexander,  and  within 


MELROSE  1 1  7 

the  doorway  of  the  sacristy  is  a  slab  which  covered  the  remains 
of  his  queen  Johanna. 

As  the  abbey  increased  in  numbers  as  well  as  in  wealth, 
the  influence  of  Melrose  spread  throughout  the  North.  The 
pioneer  of  its  order  in  Scotland,  it  became  now  the  mother  of 
Cistercian  foundations  all  over  the  Kingdom ;  Kinloss,  New- 
battle,  Glenluce,  were  all  the  offspring  of  Melrose.  During 
the  war  of  independence  the  abbey  was  spared  while  Edward 
I.  lived,  by  the  fealty  of  its  abbot  to  the  English  Crown ;  but 
the  well-filled  coffers,  the  costly  vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  the 
rich  vestments  of  Melrose,  were  well  known  throughout  that 
wild  border  country  of  the  North.  Unprotected  by  any  force 
of  arms,  they  soon  fell  prey  to  the  greed  of  the  English 
armies,  especially  of  that  baffled  and  enraged  host  under 
Edward  II.  (1322),  which,  retreating  from  the  field  of  Han- 
nockburn,  where  they  had  left  thirty  thousand  English  slain, 
wreaked  vengeance  upon  many  of  the  defenceless  shrines  of 
Scotland. 

The  abbey's  great  wealth  seems  to  have  called  forth  special 
violence,  for  scarcely  a  vestige  of  the  early  fabric  is  to  l)c 
found.  It  is  to  this  calamity,  dreadful  as  it  nnist  have  seemed 
to  the  homeless  inmates,  that  we  owe  the  exquisite  beauty  of 
the  new  shrine.  Since  the  consecration  of  the  abbey,  the 
Gothic  style  had  been  perfected  in  i''rance  and  had  reached 
full    bloom   in    I'ingland.      Melrose    destroyed   had    \)vvn   loo  early 


Il8  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

to  profit  by  the  lessons  taught  in  France,  but  Melrose  restored 
takes  advantage  of  every  principle  peculiar  to  the  pointed 
style.  It  may  not  have  the  soaring  height  nor  the  perfect 
symmetry  of  the  French  churches,  but  it  is  second  to  few,  very 
few,  in  delicacy  of  design  and  expression  and  in  gracefulness 
of  line  and  composition. 

It  was  largely  due  to  the  munificence  of  King  Robert 
Bruce  that  the  abbey  was  restored  on  so  sumptuous  a  scale. 
Shortly  before  his  death  Bruce  made  his  will,  bequeathing  a 
large  sum  to  Melrose.  He  recommended  the  monastery  to 
the  favour  of  his  son,  and  requested  that  his  heart  be  laid 
in  its  choir.  Subsequently,  however,  he  changed  his  mind  in 
regard  to  this  last  request,  and  commissioned  Sir  James 
Douglas  to  carry  his  heart  to  the  Holy  Land.  The  story  is 
well  known  :  how  the  brave  Sir  James  tried  in  vain  to  carry 
out  his  royal  master's  dying  request,  how  he  was  repulsed, 
what  dangers  he  encountered  on  his  mission  of  love  and  duty, 
how  he  was  finally  killed  by  the  Saracens  in  Spain,  in  1330, 
while  fighting  under  Alfonso,  king  of  Leon  and  Castile,  and 
how  his  body  and  his  precious  charge  were  recovered  and 
brought  back  to  Scotland.  It  was  then  that  the  former  request 
was  complied  with,  and  a  stone  engraved  with  a  cross  now 
marks  the  reputed  spot  where  lies  the  heart  of  Bruce. 

Near  the  heart  of  Bruce,  beneath  the  fretted  vault  of  the 
sanctuary,  was    laid    the    body  of   the  "good   Sir  James,"  amid 


MELROSE  1 1 9 

the  tombs  of  the  Douglas  family.^  In  the  Douglas  vault  lay 
the  remains  of  Sir  William  Douglas  of  Lothian,  and  William, 
first  Earl  of  Douglas ;  of  Sir  William  Douglas,  the  "  Dark 
Knight  of  Liddesdale,"  "  The  Flower  of  Chivalry ; "  of  James, 
Earl  of  Douglas,  slain  by  Harry  Hotspur  on  the  field  of  Otter- 
burn,  celebrated  in  the  English  ballad  of  "  Chevy  Chase,"  and 
innumerable  other  scions  of  that  renowned  house.  In  1544 
Sir  Ralph  Evers  despoiled  the  tombs  of  the  Douglases  while 
defacing  other  parts  of  the  abbey. 

For  forty  years  the  abbey  was  held  by  Edward  III.  as  on 
English  territory,  but  the  inmates  suffered  no  harm  and  the 
buildings  remained  intact.  In  1384  the  abbey  suffered  again 
from  English  visitation  under  Richard  II.,  who,  having  passed 
the  night  beneath  the  abbey's  roof,  repaid  for  its  hospitality  by 
setting  it  on  fire.  By  this  act  Richard  II.  left  his  stamp  upon 
the  edifice.  P^or  the  portions  then  destroyed,  the  transepts  and 
choir,  were  rebuilt  in  the  style  inaugurated  in  England  during 
that  monarch's  reign.  To  do  him  justice,  it  is  said  that  the 
P^nglish  king  made  handsome  gifts  to  Melrose  to  restore  the 
damage    his    troops    had    caused.      It    is    true    that    the    church 

'  Another  tradition  holds  that  Sir  James  was  buried  in  St.  Hride's,  Lanarkshire, 
where  are  many  tombs  of  later  Douglases,  and  an  elaborate  tomb  has  been  assigned 
to  him  in  that  cliiirch.  I'llore,  in  liis  "  Monumental  Remains,"  pronounces  the  effij^y 
there  to  be  anterior  to  Sir  James's  time,  and  the  canopy  is  much  later.  It  is  possible 
that  a  monument  was  erected  to  liim  licrc  l)y  his  son  Arciiibald,  even  though  his 
body  reposed  witli  the  older  Douglases  at  Melrose. 


I20  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

was  restored  in  excellent  style,  and,  under  Abbot  Hunter,  in 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  attained  its  old-time  pres- 
tige. This  famous  superior  was  at  one  time  the  ambassador 
of  James  II.  to  France,  and  later  Lord  High  Treasurer  of  the 
Kingdom.  As  we  have  already  seen,  this  abbot  left  his  im- 
print upon  the  church  edifice.  For  over  a  hundred  years 
more  the  abbey  flourished;  in  1542  no  less  than  two  hundred 
brethren,  monks  and  laymen,  were  in  service  at  Melrose. 
The  abbey  did  not  escape  the  "  scourge  of  God,"  as  the  Earl 
of  Hertford  might  have  been  called  by  the  Scottish  monastics: 
it  met  final  destruction  at  his  hands  in  1545.  If  the  Earl 
left  anything  in  the  way  of  pillage  undone,  it  was  thoroughly 
performed  by  the  promoters  of  the  Reformation.  From  that 
time  the  ruin  went  rapidly  to  decay  and  was  used  as  a  quarry 
by  the  townspeople  of  Melrose,  until,  with  its  lands  and  titles, 
it  came  into  the  possession  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  the  noble 
house  of  Buccleugh,  who  have  taken  every  measure  to  preserve 
the  ruin  without  imparting  a  suggestion  of  restoration  or  of 
artificial  support. 

During  Sir  Walter's  residence  at  Abbotsford,  the  abbey  was 
one  of  his  favourite  haunts.  In  the  portion  of  the  choir  east 
of  the  crossing,  now  almost  wholly  destroyed,  is  a  pile  of 
broken  columns  and  capitals  marking  the  site  of  one  of  the 
piers.  This,  Sir  Walter  chose  as  the  most  favoured  spot 
from  which   to  view   the   abbey.     Here   he   improvised   a    rustic 


..,,.v.  }T\^-^} 

•li 


o 


(3 


'J!  1.1 


122  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

scat  and  often  sat  with  his  face  toward  the  grand  ruin  of 
the  eastern  end  with  its  tracery  darkly  outHned  against  the 
changeful  sky,  and  here  he  was  inspired  to  write  the  Melrose 
poem. 

I  have  refrained  from  quoting  further  from  the  famous 
lines  of  Scott  upon  Melrose  by  moonlight  in  the  "  Lay  of  the 
Last  Ministrel,"  because  I  feel  that  they  must  be  so  familiar 
to  every  one.  But  charming  as  the  poem  is,  and  lovely  as  the 
sight  must  be,  I  cannot  recommend  it  to  my  readers,  to  my 
countrymen  at  least,  to  undertake  the  poetic  task. 

One  is  apt  to  forget  how  far  Scotland  is  from  the  equator, 
and  how  oddly  the  Queen  of  Night  behaves  in  northern  lati- 
tudes. Not  long  ago  I  visited  Melrose  with  a  German  friend 
who  had  travelled  many  miles  to  see  the  abbey.  It  was  in 
August,  and  my  friend  had  calculated  his  time  so  as  to  be  there 
at  the  full  of  the  moon.  In  the  evening  we  walked  to  the 
abbey  and  waited  long  for  the  moon,  which,  in  harvest,  we  are 
taught  to  expect  early.  Finally  she  appeared,  and  like  a  huge 
cart  wheel  rolled  slowly  up  the  slope  of  the  Eildons  and  disap- 
peared behind  them  without  raising  her  limb  from  the  hori- 
zon. Daylight  hung  on,  as  it  does  in  northern  climes.  The 
light  which  the  refractory  orb  gave  out  waB  completely  dissi- 
pated by  the  "gay  beams  of  lightsome  day."  Just  before  she 
disappeared,  by  placing  our  heads  near  the  ground,  we  could 
bring  the    "  slender   shafts    of   shapely  stone "   between    us    and 


MELROSE 


123 


the  golden  disc ;  but  it  was  far  from  satisfactory.  Such  is  the 
behaviour  of  the  Scottish  moon  in  summer  time.  I  am  told 
that  at  Christmas-tide,  when  the  moon  is  high  in  heaven,  the 
children  of  the  neighbourhood  gather  in  the  evening  within 
St.  David's  ruined  pile  to  sing  their  Christmas  carols  and  make 
the  bare  old  walls  ring  out  again,  as  of  old,  the  song  of 
"  Peace  to  men  of  good  will." 


^^^"^^^ 


KEYSTONES   OF  HIGH   VAULTS,   MKLKOSE. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

DRYBURGH 

The  most  natural  step  from  Melrose  is  to  Dryburgh,  its 
ruined  sister  abbey  across  the  Tweed  only  a  few  miles  distant. 
If  the  traveller  is  made  familiar  with  the  former  ruin  through 
the  writings  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  he  is  brought  to  the  latter 
with  sentiments  quite  different  —  a  pilgrim  to  the  tomb  of 
the  "  Wizard  of  the  North  "  —  which  has  become  a  veritable 
Mecca  of  the  Scots.  The  abbey  of  Dryburgh  has  neither 
the  extent  nor  the  exquisite  detail  of  Melrose ;  it  has  not  the 
antiquity  nor  the  historical  association  of  Dunfermline.  It  is, 
nevertheless,  most  attractive  for  two  reasons :  the  first,  already 
hinted  at,  for  the  dust  it  enshrines,  and  secondly,  for  its  grace 
and  picturcsqueness.  Its  ruin  is  complete.  A  pile  of  shat- 
tered walls  and  piers,  huge  mounds  almost  hidden  by  the  grass 
that  has  found  footing  in  the  crumbling  mass.  Scattered  blocks 
and  bits  of  decorated  capital  or  moulding,  attract  our  notice ; 
for  the  stone  of  Dryburgh,  like  that  of  Melrose,  is  hard,  retain- 
ing the  carving.     The    church    cannot  claim  a  single  unbroken 

feature.      The    trees    have   grown    up    about  it,  even  within    its 

124 


DRYBURGH 


125 


walls,  and  the  ivy  vine  has  woven  a  beautiful  garment  to  hide 
the  shame  of  its  desolation.  As  was  the  case  in  many  of  the 
English  and  Scotch  abbeys  that  met  their  destruction  in  war- 
like assault,  the  lateral  walls  and  interior  supports  of  Dry- 
burgh    have    almost    entirely   disappeared,    while    the   west   and 


A.  Navo. 

B.  Chulr. 

C.  C.   TmnivpU. 

D.  D.    Si.  Msrj'i  AUIt. 

E.  Snnctiinry. 

F.  Cl..i»lpr  Court. 
<1.    Snerihty. 
II.    St.  M.k1™'«  Clinii.-I- 
K.    ('lin|it4T  lluUBV. 
M .    Fratry. 
N.    Slypf. 
().    l.il.rary. 

1'.   Viiiilti'il  Ci'llarK  bolow  HetMUiTj. 
R.   8lop.». 
8.    Door  to  Ulolrtor. 
V,  \'.    nun|{ooni. 


PLAN    OK    URVUUKr.H    AHUKY. 


south  ends  are  almost  the  only  surviving  portions.  It  is  not 
(Hfriciilt  to  sec  how  the  walls,  with  their  many  openings,  would 
be  most  i)rcgii.-il)lc  lo  the  pounding  of  artillory,  and  that  wluii 
one  breach  was  made  the  homogeneous  stiiKtnre  of  sn])er- 
posed  arcades  and  (1(  li(  ,itc  shafts,  dejiendent  u])on  each  oilier 
for  support,  (piickly  collapsed.     As  the  plan   indicates,  there  are 


126  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

Still  standing,  of  the  church  edifice,  two  complete  bays  of  the 
transept  aisle  and  one  of  the  choir  aisle  with  their  vaults  intact 
and  the  triforium  and  clerestory  above  them,  the  lower  part  of 
the  sanctuary  wall  to  the  height  of  about  six  feet,  the  south 
transept  end  complete,  the  southern  wall  of  the  nave,  heavy 
and  devoid  of  openings,  and  the  western  wall  with  its  portal. 
A  peculiar  architectural  interest  attaches  to  Dryburgh  on 
account  of  the  excellent  preservation  of  its  original  cloister 
court  with  some  of  the  domestic  buildings  on  one  side  of  it 
and    the    walls    and    foundations    of    others    on    the    remaininsf 

O 

sides.  The  group  includes  two  tunnel-vaulted  chapels,  adjacent 
to  the  transept,  and  the  chapter  house,  in  excellent  preserva- 
tion ;  a  long  structure,  adjoining  the  chapter  house,  probably 
the  fratry,  not  so  well  preserved ;  then  the  slype,  and  a  large 
structure  called  the  library.  Above  this  continuous  line  of 
apartments  are  preserved  parts  of  the  second  story,  which  con- 
tained the  dormitories,  scriptorium,  etc.  At  the  centre  of  the 
fratry  wall  the  cloister  wall  turns ;  a  flight  of  steps  in  the 
angle  leads  down  to  the  lower  level  upon  which  the  fratry, 
slype,  and  other  structures  open. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  cloister  are  the  vaulted  cellars 
of  the  refectory,  which  is  completely  destroyed  except  for  its 
western  gable,  which  preserves  a  fine  wheel  window.  At  this 
point  the  cloister  wall  forms  another  angle  and  is  carried  north 
to  join  the  wall  of  the  nave.     At  its  northern  end  we  find  three 


DRYBURGH  1 27 

low  vaults,  which  are  called  the  dungeons.  This  completes 
the  great  quadrangle  of  the  abbey's  residential  portions.  A 
triangular  court  seems  to  have  been  formed  to  the  south  of 
the  refectory,  with  the  so-called  library  and  slype  to  the  east, 
and  on  its  long  side  a  number  of  less  important  buildings, 
traceable  in  their  ruined  foundations. 

Three  distinct  styles  are  represented  in  these  remains.  The 
Norman  and  early  transition  claim  the  entire  eastern  group  of 
monastic  buildings.  The  church  edifice  seems  to  have  been 
wholly  of  Early  English  design,  and  the  remaining  remnants  of  the 
southern  buildings  of  the  cloister  are  largely  in  decorated  style. 

For  a  more  detailed  examination  let  us  beq;in  with  the 
church.  From  an  examination  of  the  remains  of  the  sanctu- 
ary, the  southern  end  of  the  transc])t  with  its  attached  frag- 
ments, and  tlie  long  lines  of  pier  bases  that  extend  down  the 
length  of  the  nave,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  the  three 
surviving  northeastern  bays  known  as  St.  Mary's  aisle  are  a 
fair  sample  of  the  style  and  design  of  the  entire  edifice.  The 
six-bayed  nave  with  its  two  aisles,  the  single-aisled  transept, 
the  choir  with  aisles  extending  one  bay  beyond  the  crossing, 
and  the  simple  sanctuary,  were  undoubtedly  treated  upon  the 
same  general   lines. 

The  main  arcade  of  St.  Mary's  aisle  consists  of  lathcr 
plain,  j:)ointed  arches,  sui)ported   ui)()n  clusters  of  slender  shafts 


128 


SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 


with  capitals  of  simple  moulded  Early  English  type.  The 
shafts  of  the  piers  at  the  crossing  are  carried  up  to  the  clere- 
story level,  where  arches  spring  in  two  directions  to  support  a 
central    tower.     The    triforium   consists  of   a  plain   wall   broken 


URVm-KGll:     ST.    MAKY'S    AISLE. 

Point  2  on  Plan. 

in  each  bay  by  a  flat  arched  opening  filled  with  a  cinquefoil 
plate.  Above  this  runs  the  gallery  of  the  clerestory,  an  open 
arcade  of  three  lancet-pointed  arches  in  each  bay,  the  central 
arch  being  the  broadest,  resting  upon  groups  of  slender 
colonettes  with  moulded  caps.  The  windows,  which  open 
under  the  broad  arches  of   the  clerestory,  are   small    and   plain, 


DRYBURGH 


129 


but  pointed.  From  the  caps  of  the  main  pier  a  very  delicate 
shaft  rises  to  the  top  of  the  clerestory  wall  to  afford  apparent 
support  to  the  roof  timbers,  for  there  is  no  sign  of  vault 
structure.  The  three  vaults  are  of  excellent  form,  simple  in 
plan  and  solid  in  construction,  typical  of  early  pointed  work. 
The  outer  walls  have  small  windows,  quite  plain  within  and 
provided  with  only  a  simple  label  and  dog-tooth  mouldings  on 
the  exterior.  St.  Mary's  aisle  contains  the  simple  tomb  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott. 

Adjoining  this  part  is  a  fragment  of  north  end  wall,  show- 
ing that  there  were  here  two  stories  of  tall  grouped  windows, 
ornamented  with  deep  mouldings  and  engaged  colonettes.  The 
broken  wall  of  the  sanctuary  contains  a  bit  of  stair  which 
probably  connected  with  the  galleries  above. 

The  south  transept  end  is  solid  and  uninteresting  in  its 
lower  regions,  but  in  the  gable  is  a  fine  window  of  first  pointed 
style  filled  with  plain  tracery  of  later  date.  Its  sill  is  raised 
by  steps  toward  the  centre  to  accommodate  the  steep  ridge  of 
the  dormitory  roof  without.  A  winding  stairway  in  the  east 
corner  of  the  transej)t  led  from  the  church  to  the  upi)er 
story  of  the  cloister  buildings. 

At  the  west  ind  we  find  only  a  heavy  wall  of  one  stoiy  with 
the  main  portal  of  the  church,  a  round-headed  ojx'iiing  adorned 
over  its  arch  and  along  its  jambs  by  rich  mouldings  embel- 
lished   with    rosettes.     These    unbroken    mouldings    with    their 


i^o 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


little   ornaments   would   assign    the    portal,   though  semicircular, 
to  a  comparatively  late  date. 

In  the  south  wall  of  the  nave  is  another  portal  that  led  out 
to  the  cloisters.     It  is  one  of  the  gems   of    the  buildings.     Its 


**:'••=? 


m^'r^i. 


V  *  ■•''-*  \:7r^ 


DRYBURGH:     SOUTH   TRANSEPT   AND    CHAPTER    HOUSE. 

Point  I  on  Plan. 

broad  round  arch,  from  which  most  of  the  mouldings  have 
been  stripped,  rests  upon  colonettes  quite  slender  and  very 
gracefully  capped  in  early  French  style.  One  of  the  best 
views  of  the  abbey  is  to  be  had  through  this  doorway. 

Adjacent  to  the  south   transept  and  reached  by  a  descend- 
ing  flight   of  stejos,   is  the  sacristy,  now  closed,   and   used  as  a 


DRYBURGH 


131 


mortuary  chamber.  It  is  covered  by  a  vault  and  is  provided 
with  a  window  of  two  coupled  arches,  surmounted  by  one  in 
form  of   the  vesica  pescis.     Next  to  this   comes   another   vaulted 


r5^^. 


•  -^^  ~.     ill  J 


■1,^ 


u*?? 


DdOKWAV    llinWKKN    NAVK   AND    CI,<  HSIKk. 
f'fliitf  7  Oft   /'Inn. 


chamber,  the  chapel  of  St.  Morlaii,  also  converted  into  a  tomb, 
and  lighted  like  its  neighbour  by  coujjlcd  louiul  arched  windows 
to   the   east.      Both    apartments   connected    witli    the   cloister   by 


132  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

means  oi  round-arched  doorways ;  the  latter  with  the  chapter 
house,  wliich  extends  several  feet  further  to  the  east  than  the 
two  chapels.  The  structure  of  these  buildings,  thus  far,  is  quite 
purely  Norman.  In  the  chapter  house  we  find  a  fine  broad 
barrel  vault,  Norman  arcades  in  the  walls,  Norman  arch  and 
windows  upon  the  cloister,  but  early  pointed  openings  at  the 
end  and  in  the  side  of  the  vault;  broken  through  in  after 
years  when  more  light  was  souglit.  In  the  centre  of  the  floor, 
a  double  circle  marks  the  burial  place  of  the  founder  of  the 
abbey.  The  cloister  was  reached  from  the  chapter  house,  and 
in  fact  from  all  these  buildings,  by  a  flight  of  steps,  the  level 
of  the  cloister  being  somewhat  above  that  of  the  domestic 
buildings,  and  the  level  of  the  church  higher  still,  showing 
that  the  abbey  was  built  upon  a  gentle  slope. 

Next  to  the  chapter  house  and  connected  with  it  by  a  curved 
passageway,  is  an  oblong  building,  built  in  Norman  style,  but 
provided,  apparently  at  a  later  period,  with  a  set  of  vaults,  to 
carr\-  which  two  supports  were  placed  on  the  central  axis  of  the 
apartment  and  corbels  set  in  the  walls.  The  springing  of  these 
vaults  is  still  visible.  At  the  same  time  with  the  other  improve- 
ments this  room  was  fitted  with  larcre  traceried  windows  and  a 
commodious  fireplace.  A  staircase  led  to  the  upper  apartments. 
This  building,  which  we  shall  call  the  fratry,  opened  upon  the 
lower  cloister  court  and  upon  the  slype,  which,  with  the  ad- 
joining half-ruined  structure,  are  in  the  primitive  Norman  style. 


DRYBURGH 


^33 


y^/f^kife?^ 


A   CORNER    OF   THE   CLOISTER  —  GABLE   AND    WINDOW    OK    KKIECIOKY. 

Point  4  on  Plan. 

The  second  story  of  all  these  buildings  is  pretty  well  pre- 
served on  the  eastern  side,  where  an  interesting  row  of  plain 
Norman  windows  between  flat  pilaster  buttresses  maintains  the 
prinn'tive  style  of  (he  abbey.  The  uj)per  story  of  the  chapter 
house  alone   shows  signs  of  lia\ing  been   remodelled. 

Alongside  the  fratry  wall  anotlici-  lliglit  of  steps  leads  from 
the  cloister  to  the  lower  garth.  The  xauitcd  cellars  of  the 
refectory,  the  onlv  building  on  the  southeiii  side  of  the  court, 
manifest    work    of    extremely    crude    character;    but    one   of    the 


134  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

features  of  the  whole  ruin  is  the  great  St.  Catherine's  wheel 
window  in  its  tall  western  gable.  It  is  plainly  of  early  deco- 
rated style,  is  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  and  retains  its  original 
tracery.  A  rich  growth  of  ivy,  covering  the  bareness  of  the 
ruined  wall  and  gable,  adds  much  to  the  effect  of  the  wheel. 

In  the  plain  west  wall  of  the  cloister  is  a  long  niche  that 
once  contained  the  tomb  of  one  of  the  early  abbots.  At  the 
opposite  end  is  the  entrance  to  the  supposed  dungeons,  where 
there  is  an  arrangement  in  the  wall  for  wedging  in  the  hands 
of  unruly  monks  or  poaching  laymen.  Among  the  fragments 
of  carving  gathered  in  the  chapter  house  and  in  a  pile  in  the 
choir  are  an  ancient  font,  remnants  of  an  altar  of  great  age, 
and  a  huge  stone  sarcophagus. 

The  history  of  the  abbey  of  Dryburgh  is  almost  coincident 
with  that  of  its  more  powerful  neighbour,  Melrose.  Their 
periods  of  prosperity  were  coeval ;  their  misfortunes  came  at 
the  same  time,  for  their  enemies  were  identical.  Dryburgh 
is  slightly  younger  than  Melrose,  having  been  founded  in 
1 1 50  —  not  by  David  I.,  strange  to  say,  but  by  one  of  his 
powerful  lords,  Hugh  de  Morcvillc,  Constable  of  Scotland. 
The  saint-king,  however,  must  be  given  credit  for  his  share 
in  building  the  abbey ;  for,  once  founded,  it  became  the  object 
of  his  pious  liberality  to  such  an  extent  that  the  real  founder 
was  long  forgotten  until  the  research  of  antiquaries  discovered 


DRYBURGH  1 35 

him.      The  site  chosen  by  the  pious   Hugh  for  his  monument 

was  one  so  old  that  history  is  lost  in  attempting   to    ascertain 

even  an  approximate  date.     This  heavily  wooded  haugh,  rising 

from  the  bank  of  the  winding  Tweed,  was  in  the  distant  past 

a  place   of     Druidical   worship.       The    name   Darach    Brtiach 

signifies   in    Celtic   or   Gaelic   a   grove   sacred   to   that    ancient 

religion.     Besides  a  site  of  great  antiquity,  the  abbey  boasts  a 

location    which,    for    beauty,    is    not    rivalled    in    the    whole    of 

Scotland. 

"  And  Dryburgh,  where  with  chiming  Tweed 
The  Hnt-whites  sing  in  chorus," 

says  Wordsworth. 

The  river  sweeps  its  majestic  course  on  three  sides  of  the 
abbey  precinct,  which  is  completely  embowered  in  a  splendid 
growth  of  ancient  trees.  Beside  the  abbey  stand  a  number  of 
grand  old  yew  trees,  which  are  known,  from  references  to  them 
in  ancient  documents  as  landmarks,  to  be  almost  as  old  as  the 
abbey  itself. 

When  the  abbey  had  been  founded,  its  patron  sent  to 
Alnwick  for  a  chapter  of  White  Friars  of  the  Prcmonstraten- 
sian  order.  In  11 50,  on  St.  Martin's  Day,  the  abbey  was 
consecrated.  Witliin  twelve  years  the  domestic  buildings 
were  comjjletcd ;  for  in  1162  the  ])i()us  founder  was  laid  in  a 
tomb  in  the  chapter  house  beside  his  wife,  Beatrix  de 
Beauchamp. 


136  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBP:YS 

Soon  after  tlie  consecration  of  the  abbey,  the  sacred  relics 
of  St.  Moden,  or  IModan,  were  brought  from  his  cell  in  Rose- 
heath,  where  they  had  reposed  since  the  sixth  century.  The 
church  could  not  have  been  built  at  that  period,  for  these 
bones  were  laid  in  a  special  chapel  adjoining  the  chapter 
house,  instead  of  in  the  sanctuary,  the  usual  site  of  reliquaries. 
But  within  sixty  years  after  the  abbey's  founding,  during  which 
the  Norman  style  liad  been  supplanted  by  the  early  pointed, 
the  church  itself  was  consecrated  with  great  solemnity  on  an- 
other St.  Martin's  Uay  in  the  time  of  Abbot  Girardus  (1177- 
II 84),  under  whose  rule  the  abbey  was  granted  special  privi- 
leges by  Pope  Lucian  III.  The  White  Monks  enjoyed  tranquil 
prosperity  for  nearly  two  hundred  years.  When  the  war  for 
independence  broke  out,  this  borderland  abbey  saved  itself  and 
its  inmates  by  the  act  of  Abbot  William,  who  swore  fidelity 
to  Edward  I.  The  king,  however,  took  over  the  lands  of  the 
monastery  in    1276. 

Again  the  abbey  was  spared  the  invading  hosts  of  England 
when  Edward  II.,  with  his  vast  army,  passed  northward  toward 
the  capital.  But  one  day  in  June  the  monks  learned  of  the 
crushing  defeat  of  this  mighty  host  on  Bannockburn  field,  and 
set  their  bells  to  ringing  lustily  for  hours  in  jubilant  exulta- 
tion ;  but  with  the  news  of  victory  advanced  the  vanquished 
monarch,  who  turned  the  joy  of  the  monks  to  grief  by  setting 
fire  to  their  refectory.     It  was  this  part  alone  that  perished  in 


DRYBURGH  1 37 

the  conflagration,  as  we  see  from  the  change  of  style  that  took 
place  in  this  building,  represented  by  the  rich  decorated  window. 

It  is,  of  course,  possible  that  the  wooden  roofs  of  the 
buildings  were  also  consumed,  but  no  other  sign  of  destruc- 
tion or  restoration  of  this  period  can  be  found  upon  the 
surviving  portions.  During  the  years  of  peace  that  remained 
to  the  abbey  its  cloister  became  a  favourite  haunt  of  Ralph 
Strode,  the  philosopher,  and  of  many  other  men  of  letters. 

The  abbey's  great  disaster  fell  in  the  year  1544,  when  Sir 
Ralph  Evers  was  engaged  in  devastating  all  the  cloistered 
haunts  of  Teviotdale.  The  demolition  of  this  time  undoubtedly 
left  the  abbey  in  the  condition  in  which  we  see  it  to-day. 

In  1832  the  body  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  was  laid  to  rest 
beneath  St.  Mary's  aisle,  among  the  graves  of  his  ancestors, 
the  Haliburtons  of  Newmains,  to  whom  the  aljbcy  once 
belonged.  It  seems  as  if  these  few  vaults  had  been  spared 
expressly  for  the  reception  of  the  hallowed  remains  of  Scot- 
land's favourite  son. 


CHAPTER  IX 


HADDINGTON   PRIORY 


CENTRAL   CAPITAL   FROM    WEST 
PORTAL  —  HADDINGTON. 


The  Eastern  Lowlands,  or  East  Lo- 
thian, comprising  what  are  now  known 
as  the  shires  of  Berwick  and  Hadding- 
ton, were  in  the  earlier  days  of  Christ- 
ianity in  Britain  the  seat  of  a  number 
of   monastic   institutions. 

The  proximity  of  the  Holy  Isle  and 
the  influence  of  several  ancient  Scottish 
missionaries,  among  whom  St.  Cuthbert  and  St.  Aidan  were 
most  prominent,  had  wrought  the  evangelization  of  this  wild 
and  pagan  coast  as  early  as  the  seventh  century.  The  North- 
umbrian Kingdom,  unreached  by  the  Roman-British  mission  of 
St.  Augustine,  we  are  told,  was  brought  to  the  acceptance 
of  Christian  faith  through  Scottish  agency  in  the  person  of 
St.  Aidan,  who  came  from  the  western  isle  of  lona,  where  St. 
Columba  had  set  up  his  cross  nearly  a  hundred  years  before. 
St.  Cuthbert,  whose  faith  was  of  the  same  source,  made  the 
Holy  Isle,  off   the  east  coast  of   Berwick,  the  centre  of  a  most 


138 


HADDINGTON   PRIORY  139 

extended  bishopric;  so  that  the  early  establishment  of  religious 
houses  in  this  wilderness  was  the  result  of  Columban  rather 
than  of  Augustinian  missions. 

Most,  if  not  all,  of  these  early  foundations  perished  under 
the  hand  of  the  Danes,  whose  torches,  early  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, laid  waste  these  first  homes  of  struggling  Christianity 
from  the  Thames  to  the  Frith  of  Forth. 

But  the  seed  thus  early  sown  was  not  wholly  uprooted  by 
Danish  fury,  although  all  visible  signs  of  its  existence  had  dis- 
appeared ;  for,  as  the  more  peaceful  times  of  Malcolm  Canmore 
appeared  in  the  eleventh  century,  a  fresh  and  vigorous  growth 
began,  which  flourished  richly  under  the  protection  and  pat- 
ronage of  his  pious  progeny. 

No  vestige  of  monumental  evidence  remains  of  the  earlier 
religious  settlements;  tradition  points  to  a  number  of  possible 
foundations.  The  name  of  St.  Abb,  which  still  survives  in 
local  nomenclature,  is  reminiscent  of  Kbba,  who  is  said,  after 
her  miraculous  escape  from  a  Northumbrian  prince  who  wished 
to  marry  her,  to  have  established  a  convent,  of  which  she  was 
the  first  abbess,  at  Coldinirham.  The  successors  of  Kbba,  dur- 
ing  the  Danish  invasion,  are  reported  to  have  cut  off  their 
noses  and  lij^s  in  fear  of  violation,  and  to  have  been  burned 
alive  with  their  abbey  when  the  relentless  marauders  came. 
The  present  remains  at  Coldingliam  are  those  of  a  Cistercian 
monastery  established    in    1098  upon   the   ruined    foundations  of 


I40  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 

St.  F.bba's  convent.  A  tragic  discovery  early  in  the  present 
century  lent  credence  to  the  story  of  the  abbey's  earlier  founda- 
tion, when  the  skeleton  of  a  woman  was  found  in  an  upright 
position  sealed  up  in  the  thickness  of  the  ancient  wall,  telling 
perhaps  of  the  penalty  for  broken  vows  paid  by  one  of  the 
sisterhood.  This  horrible  form  of  punishment,  which  reminds 
one  of  the  days  of  Roman  Vestals  and  imperial  persecutions, 
was  visited  upon  the  unfortunate  Constance  de  Beverley,  who 
left  her  cloister  to  become  a  horse-boy  in  the  train  of  Lord 
Marmion,  as  the  reader  doubtless  remembers  from  Scott's 
poem. 

At  North  Berwick  are  the  scant  remains  of  another  Cister- 
cian convent  also  made  famous  by  Sir  Walter  in  '*  Marmion." 

...  "a  venerable  pile, 

Whose  turrets  viewed  afar, 
The  lofty  Bass,  the  Lanibie  Isle, 

The  ocean's  peace  or  war." 

Here  it  was  that  "St.  Hilda's  Abbess"  from  across  the  border 
was  received  by  the  venerable  Scottish  prioress. 

Abbey  St.  Bathan's  is  but  a  name,  though  we  may  believe 
that  it  is  derived  from  a  religious  settlement  long  since  lost  in 
oblivion.  These  traditions  and  names  relate  probably  to  only 
a  small  fraction  of  the  religious  centres  established  in  East 
Lothian  rluring  its  earliest  Christian  period.  The  second  or 
post-Norman    era   saw  great    and    powerful    institutions    erected 


HADDINGTON    PRIORY 


141 


upon  many  of  these  early  sites,  as  we  have  seen  above,  and 
numerous  new  settlements  were  founded  throughout  the  district. 

During  this  second  period  of  Christian  influence,  no  place 
in  the  whole  region  was  more  famous  as  a  religious  centre  than 
the  town  of  Haddington.  A  "  royal  burgh,"  it  possessed  no 
less  than  two  religious  houses  —  a  Franciscan  monastery  and 
a  convent  —  besides  several  churches  and  chapels. 

The  town  is  beautifully  situated  in  the  fertile  valley  of  the 
Tyne,  just  east  of  the  lovely  hills  of  Lammermuir.  The  river, 
bordered  with  willows  and  shaded  by  lofty,  graceful  elms,  winds 
through  one  of  the  most  fertile  plains  in  the  North  Country, 
whose  abundance  of  corn  was  famous  even  as  far  back  as  the 
time  of  Edward  I.  At  the  point  where  the  river  curves 
about  the  town,  it  is  crossed  by  the  "  Auld  Brig,"  which  has 
withstood  many  inundations  that  have  destroyed  large  por- 
tions of  the  burgh.  The  oldest  of  a  number  of  inscrij^tions 
on  the  bridge  at  its  eastern  end  reads,  "  Haidinton  1565,"  and 
an  ancient  iron  hook  projecting  from  one  of  the  arches  marks 
the  place  where  the  criminals  of  past  centuries  hung  for  their 
misdeeds. 

Early  in  the  twelfth  century  Haddington  became  the  dower 
of  Ada,  Countess  of  Northumberland  ;  and  here  her  sons,  Mal- 
colm IV.  and  Wilh'am  I..  s])ent  their  youtli.  W^illiam,  later 
called  "  The  I, ion,"  made  the  town  his  most  favoured  residence, 
and  his  son   Alexander    II.   w,i>   hoi  11    in    its  castle. 


Illil' 


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HADDINGTON    PRIORY  1 43 

It  was  created  a  royal  burgh  by  David  I.,  and  remained  a 
royal  residence  until  about  12 16,  when,  under  King  John  of 
England,  hostilities  between  the  two  countries  began,  which 
were  to  last  for  centuries.  The  town  was  at  the  time  reduced 
to  ashes,  but  was  quickly  rebuilt,  the  monastic  portion  with 
greater  splendour  than  before. 

Of  the  mediaeval  religious  buildings  which  gave  dignity  to 
the  town  but  one  remains,  and  this,  though  ruined,  is  in  com- 
paratively good  preservation.  But  so  completely  have  all  rec- 
ords of  the  monasteries  disappeared  —  so  absolutely  have  war 
and  fire  and  sword  effaced  the  memory  of  the  buildings  which 
stood  near  it  —  that  it  is  impossible  to  identify  this  majestic 
ruin  with  any  degree  of  certainty. 

Dr.  Barclay,  writing  in  1792,  proved,  to  his  own  satisfac- 
tion at  least,  that  the  present  church  is  the  ancient  Franciscan 
priory ;  this  conclusion  he  reached  by  quotations  of  certain 
boundaries  in  old  documents.  Mr.  Robb,  who  has  recently 
written  a  guide  to  Haddington,  takes  issue  with  Dr.  Barclay 
and  brings  evidence  to  show  that  the  abbey  buildings  of  the 
I'Vanciscan  monastery  were  situated  some  yards  lurther  down 
the  river,  i.e.  to  the  north,  and  holds  that  the  present  structure 
has  always  been   the  parish  church,  as   it  is  still   callrd. 

Mr.  II.  I\  Kerr,  in  a  pa))er  published  in  the  Transactions 
of  the  Jidinburgh  /Xrchilectural  Association,  concurs  with  Mr. 
Kfjbb's    views,    while    Macgibljon,    in    his    new    work    upon    the 


144 


SCOTLAND'S    RUINED    ABBEYS 


"  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  of  Scotland,"  seems  non-committal, 
though  he  calls  the  building  the  "parish  church,"  which  no 
one  can  deny  it  now  is. 

W'itliout  j)ursuing  further  the  lines  of  proof  so  ably  adduced 
by  these  authorities,  let  us  look  at  the  situation  in  a  fair  light, 
and  then  attempt  to  judge  from  a  purely  archaeological  stand- 
point the  possible  identity  of  our  church. 

If  these  more  recent  writers  are  correct,  there  stood  at  one 
time  beside  the  Tyne,  within  a  few  yards  of  each  other,  two 
magnificent  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  nearly  equal  dimensions, — 
the  parish  church  and  the  church  of  the  friars,  both  of  which 
we  know  from  various  accounts  to  have  been  large  and 
splendid  structures. 

The  ancient  chronicler  Fordun  records  that  Edward  III., 
while  invading  Scotland  in  1355,  burned  "the  town,  the  mon- 
astery, and  the  sacred  church  of  the  Fratres  Minores  of  Had- 
dington,  a  costly  and  splendid  building  of  wonderful  beauty^ 
whose  choir,  from  its  elegance  and  clearness  of  light,  was 
commonly  called  the  Lamp  of  Lothian  or  Friars'  Kirk."  And 
Patten,  in  his  "  Expedition  to  Scotland  under  the  Conduct  of 
the  Earl  of  Hertford,"  remarks,  in  1547:  "We  burnt  a  fine 
town  of  the  Earl  of  Bothwell's,  called  Haddington,  with  a 
great  nunnery  and  a  house  of  friars."  Mr.  Robb  cites  both  of 
these  quotations,  but  does  not  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the    magnificent    "  parish    church  "   is    mentioned    by   neither  of 


HADDINGTON    PRIORY 


145 


these  authorities,  while  both  refer,  apparently,  to  the  convent 
in  the   N ungate  and  to  the  abbey. 

Beside  a  very  unusual  position  in  adjoining  a  large  mon- 
astery, this  parish  church  had  the  unusual  features  of  a 
spacious  choir  (plan)  of  four  bays,  with  side  aisles  and  well- 
projecting  transepts,  beside  a  three-aisled  nave  of  five  bays, 
and  these  long  after  the  town  had  ceased  to  be  a  royal  resi- 
dence or  of  any  great  importance  as  compared  with  numerous 
other  towns  which  could  not  boast  of  parish  churches  half  as 
large.  Could  we  reconcile  the  few  yards  of  difference  in  loca- 
tion, would  it  not  seem  more  practicable  to  combine  the  two 
supposed  buildings  and  identify  the  commodious  choir  with 
the  place  of  worship  of  the  monks,  and  the  present,  later  nave, 
with  its  predecessors  (which  must  have  been),  with  the  jiarish 
church  ;  as  was  the  case  with  the  naves  of  abbey  churches  the 
world  over?  But  these  arc  not  my  only  reasons  for  believing 
St.  Mary's  Church  to  be  a  part  of  the  ancient  monastery.  In 
the  north  side  of  the  choir,  in  the  third  bay,  there  is  a  door- 
way which   now  leads  into  a  mortuary  chamber  of   recent  date. 

This  doorway,  round  arched  and  small,  is  in  all  respects 
like  those  of  other  abbeys  which  lead  into  the  sacristy  or 
connect  with  the  monastic  buildings.  High  up  on  the  exte- 
rior surface  of  llif  icmaining  walls  of  tlic  north  tianscj)!  ;ii"e 
the  iinniistakahlc  marks  of  gable  loofs  and  other  evidences  of 
buildings    once    attached.      1  he    northern    and   western  walls   of 


146  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

tliis  transept  arc  entirely  wanting,  but  I  believe  that  if  they 
were  in  existence  they  could  prove  conclusively  that  they  were 
connected  with  the  domestic  edifices  of  a  great  monastery. 
The  buildings  of  the  monastery  we  know  were  destroyed  by 
Edward  I.,  circa  1292,  while  the  abbey  church  was  spared. 
With  a  cloister  court  and  domestic  buildings  about  it  to  the 
north,  and  perhaps  a  smaller  close  beyond  this,  which  was  of 
frequent  occurrence,  it  is  not  diflficult  to  carry  the  boundaries 
of  the  abbey  to  the  points  identified  as  the  '''friers  croft'"  and 
'friers  gowl^''  \\hich  seem  to  be  the  chief  landmarks  of  the 
monastery. 

The  most  picturesque  and  characteristic  view  of  the  abbey 
is  to  be  had  from  the  old  bridge,  itself  some  five  hundred 
years  old,  that  leads  over  to  that  portion  of  the  town  called 
the  N ungate.  From  here  the  whole  height  of  the  tower  is 
seen  above  the  graceful  ruins  of  the  choir,  while  the  nave, 
with  its  poor  fifteenth-century  work  and  aw'kward  modern 
restorations,  is  suppressed  into  the  background  by  the  pro- 
jecting arm  of  the  broken  transept  and  the  clustering  trees  of 
the  friar's  croft.  There  were  few  towers  like  this  in  Scotland 
in  the  days  of  its  glory,  nor  many  of  the  transitional  style  in 
Great  Britain  that  could  surpass  it  for  grace  of  proportion  or 
elegance  of  design.  What  its  crowning  feature  was,  whether 
spire  or  battlement,  we  do  not  know,  but  we  at  least  may  hope 
it    was    not,  as    has    been    suggested,   a  crown   like    that   which 


^rit- 


II. 


rM, 


-     -^      'V^^     'rfili>^'*-^.  /-     ■1:,.     h-v.    '^  " 


'     -y. 


"4 


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THE  TOWKK   ANU   CHOIR.      /Vow    /V/;//  ./   «'l    /'/,iil. 


148  SCOTLAND'S   RUINKO    ABBEYS 

makes  St.  Giles  in  Edinburgii,  if  not  beautiful,  conspicuous 
amono-   the  churches  of  the   Kino;dom. 

The  choir  needs  closer  inspection ;  but  the  tower  and 
choir,  rising  out  of  the  water  of  Tyne,  set  among  the  soft 
green  of  luxuriant  trees,  all  against  the  changing  slopes  of 
the  distant  Lammermuirs,  have  a  site  of  rare  beauty,  dignified 
and  commanding,  yet  low  and  protected. 

From  '  the  bridge  we  walk  along  the  "  Sands,"  or  Butts, 
where  archery  was  practised  by  the  royal  bowmen  in  pre- 
gunpowder  times,  to  the  north  gate  of  the  kirkyard;  from  this 
point  the  dignity  of  the  choir  is  well  appreciated,  but  the 
modern  chapel  hides  much  of  its  beauty.  Making  our  way 
among  the  graves  past  the  east  end  of  the  choir  we  turn,  and 
have  as  good  a  view  as  can  be  had  of  the  ruin ;  the  well-pro- 
portioned outer  buttresses,  with  one  broken  and  two  perfect 
transitional  pinnacles,  and  with  their  gargoyle  water  conduits 
intact ;  the  south  aisle  wall,  completely  destroyed  in  the  east- 
ern and  western  bays,  but  preserving  in  two  mid-bays  pointed 
windows  broken  down  to  the  ground,  but  with  their  carved 
hood  mouldings  perfectly  preserved,  while  through  the  win- 
dows we  see  the  clustered  shafts  and  pointed  arches  of  the 
main  arcade.  Above  this  wall  the  sole  surviving  original  fly- 
ing buttress  describes  a  free  curve  to  the  clerestory  wall.  This 
arch  is  of  simple  form,  well  weighted  at  the  back,  and  must 
be   of  the  best  period.     The  windows   of   the   clerestory  are   of 


HADDINGTON    PRIORY 


149 


pointed  form,  well  proportioned,  with  well-carved  hood  moulds, 
and  contain  a  simple  design  of  decorated  tracery,  which,  from 
its  depth  and  the  richness  of  its  mouldings,  cannot  be  earlier 
than  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  nor  later  than  the 
be^jinnino:  of  the  fourteenth. 

The  corbel  table  which  adorns 
the  top  of  both  walls  is  of  four- 
teenth or  even  fifteenth  century  de- 
sign, and  marks  a  change  of  roofing 
probably  necessitated  by  fire. 

The  plan  of  the  interior  com- 
prises a  three-aisled  choir  of  four 
bays,  broad  aisleless  transepts,  and 
a  nave  of  five  bays  with  three 
aisles.  The  choir  was  vaulted 
throughout,  as  were  the  transepts, 
and   as   is   the   much-restored   nave. 

The  broad  pointed  arches  of  the      p,^^  ^^  ^„,.  ^„„,,,  ^.^  „^,,. 
choir    arc    richly    moulded,    and    are  dington. 

supported  by  clusters  of  eight  graceful  shafts  bearing  capitals  of 
the  best  English  Gothic  design  and  most  beautiful  workmanship. 
It  must  be  said  tliat  the  capitals  of  the  two  easternmost  piers 
are  of  the  j)lain  moulded  type  of  the  I^arly  I^nglish  period, 
that  those  of  another  are  restored,  and  that  the  carving  just 
spoken   of   may  be  somewhat  later  than  the  construction. 


A.  Niive. 

B.  Cluiir. 

C.  N.  Trnnicpt. 

D.  8.  TrftiiM'[»t. 

E.  T..»ir. 

F.  Mixlcm  Mortuftrj 
Clumber. 


I50 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


The  colouring  of  the  interior  is  a  soft  reddish  brown,  black- 
ened in  some  places  by  the  smoke  of  long-past  fires.  The 
graceful  clustered  piers  and  richly  carved  pointed  arches  cast 
deep  shadows  over  a  floor  of  nature's  green,  broken  here  and 
there  by  the  white  of  a  marble  tomb-slab.  Among  these  we 
note  with  interest  the  grave  of  Jane  Welch,  the  wife  of  Carlyle, 
whose  lines  to  her  memory  we  read  upon  the  stone :  — 

"  In  her  bright  existence  she  had  more  sorrows  than  are  common,  but  also  a 
soft  invincibility  and  a  noble  loyalty  of  heart  which  are  rare.  For  forty  years 
she  was  the  true  and  ever  loving  helpmate  of  her  husband  and  by  act  and  word 
unweariedly  forwarded  him,  as  none  else  could,  in  all  of  worthy  that  he  did  or 
attempted.  She  died  at  London,  21  April,  1866,  suddenly  snatched  away  from 
him  and  the  light  of  his  life  as  if  gone  out." 

Poor  Jane  Carlyle  after  a  hard  life  at  last  found  repose 
with  her  parents,  far  away  in  the  North,  in  the  abbey  of  the 
town  where  she  was  born,  about  whose  crumbling  ruins  she  had 
played  as  a  little  child  and  where  she  had  received  the  homage 
of  two  of  the  greatest  men  of  her  time,  Edward  Irving  and 
Thomas  Carlyle. 

The  side-aisle  walls  seem  not  to  have  had  responds  oppo- 
site the  piers,  but  bear  corbels  which  still  support  the  remains 
of  vault  ribs.  The  windows  in  the  north  wall  still  preserve 
their  original  form  and  tracery,  which  may  be  assigned  to  the 
same  date  as  that  of  the  clerestory.  The  tracery  of  the  east 
window    is    modern,   but    a    restoration,  they  say,   from   original 


t>_._..Kl_tl. 


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a 

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s 

H 

b 
O 

o 

W 


152  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

fracfments :  it  is  of  fine  flowincr  character.  There  is  no  tri- 
foriuni  gallery,  the  blank  space  between  the  triforium  string 
and  that  of  the  clerestory  being  the  only  ungothic  feature  of 
the  choir,  and  is  suggestive  of  German  and  Italian  interiors  of 
the  same  period.  Three  clustered  vaulting  shafts  are  carried 
up  from  bases  resting  upon  the  main  capitals  to  support  the 
ribs  of  the  main  vaults ;  their  capitals  are  moulded  but  very 
flowing  to  receive  the  loads.  The  wall  ribs  of  all  the  high 
vaults  are  still  to  be  seen,  embracino:  the  windows  and  above 
the  great  east  window.  These  vaults  must  have  been  very 
fine  and  of  truly  Gothic  character,  as  their  plan  of  construc- 
tion shows.  It  has  been  necessary  in  precaution  to  brace  the 
high  walls  by  means  of  iron  girders,  which  now  span  the 
main  aisle,  but  I  did  not  deem  it  important  to  reproduce 
these   in   the  drawing. 

The  supports  of  the  tower  are  very  massive,  composed  of 
shafts  separated  by  pilasters  of  rectangular  section  and  grouped 
about  a  pier  of  great  diameter. 

The  transept  is  of  equal  depth  with  the  tower,  and,  so  far 
as  it  is  preserved,  presents  high  walls  unbroken  to  the  east. 
The  south  end  has  a  low  door  surmounted  by  a  lofty  window, 
but  these  are  restorations  of  modern  date.  High  up  on  the 
walls  may  be  seen  the  corbels  which  supported  high  vaults  of 
considerable  span,  three  compartments  over  each  arm  of  the 
transept.       The     tower     and     transepts    are    unmistakably    the 


HADDINGTON    PRIORY  153 

oldest  part  of  the  building.  These,  with  the  choir,  are  un- 
doubtedly portions  of  the  church  which  Edward  I.  saw  and 
spared  in  1292,  and  are  the  veritable  "  Lucerna  Laudonias "  of 
Fordun,  which  Edward  III.  burned,  together  with  the  town, 
in  1355.  This  conflagration  consumed  probably  the  wooden 
roofs  and  movables  of  the  church,  sparing  the  lower  portions, 
as  often  happened  in  the  case  of  vaulted  buildings.  An  older 
nave,  or  one  contemporaneous  with  the  choir,  may  have  been 
so  seriously  damaged  at  this  time  that  it  was  found  necessary 
to  remove  it,  for  the  present  nave  is  of  a  date  subsequent  to 
Edward   III.'s  invasion. 

Only  one  small  portion  of  this  nave,  which  is  of  a  very 
poor  period,  and  made  worse  by  alterations  and  restorations 
in  recent  years,  need  be  mentioned  here ;  that  is  the  western 
portal,  which  may  easily  be  believed  to  have  belonged  to  a 
structure  of  the  best  Gothic  jocriod.  It  consists  of  a  broad 
semicircular  arch,  deeply  recessed  and  richly  moulded,  embrac- 
ing two  sub-arches  of  similar  form,  supported  at  their  juncture 
by  a  slender  cluster  of  colonettes,  the  comjjound  capital  of 
which  is  shown  in  the  initial  sketch.  The  round  arch  obtained 
in  Scotland  during  all  ])eriods,  but  the  richness  and  delicacy 
of  the  scul]:)tured  mouldings,  and  es]:)ecially  of  the  capital, 
which  is  an  elaljorate  foliate  design  with  a  shield  bearing  a 
com|)osite  representation  of  \h*-  Passion,  the  jiicrrcd  heart,  the 
hands    and    feet,    tin-    nails,    all    iiitciwoven    with    the    crown    of 


154  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

thorns,  arc  specimens  of  exquisite  workmanship  of  the  best 
period.  It  is  possible  that  this  little  bit  of  sculpture  may  aid 
in  the  final  identification  of  the  church,  for  symbolism  is  so 
rare  in  Scottish  sculpture  that  its  occurrence  must  have 
meaning. 

The  heart,  hands,  and  feet  are  symbolical  of  the  "  five 
wounds,"  a  characteristic  symbol  in  the  blazonry  of  the  Fran- 
ciscan order,  and  never  used,  so  far  as  I  am  able  to  discover, 
by  other  orders  or  by  the  church  at  large.  Various  instances 
of  its  use  may  be  found  in  the  "  Life  of  St.  Francis  of 
Assisi "  (E.  Plon,  Nourrit  et  Cie,  Paris,  1885),  the  most  strik- 
ing example,  perhaps,  being  that  at  the  bottom  of  Plate  XIX., 
where  the  resemblance  to  our  shield  is  most  patent,  the  only 
difference  beins:  that  in  the  latter  the  crown  of  thorns  is  intro- 
duced  to  give  sculptural  character  and  to  blend  the  design 
with  the  foliage  treatment  of  the  capital.  May  it  not  be  that 
the  key  to  the  abbey's  mystery  is,  after  all,  veritably  in  the 
front  portal  ? 

If  we  follow  the  path  through  the  churchyard  to  the  gate 
by  which  we  entered,  cross  the  bridge,  and  follow  the  river  for 
half  or  three  quarters  of  a  mile,  we  shall  come  to  the  meagre 
remains  of  the  convent  which  Countess  Ada  of  Northumber- 
land, mother  of  Malcolm  IV.  and  William  "the  Lion,"  founded 
in  1 1 78.  Little  is  known  of  its  history  except  that  in  1292  the 
Abbess    Alicia  did    homac^e    to    Edward    I.  for  herself  and  her 


HADDINGTON    PRIORY 


155 


followers,  and  that  this  act  was  repeated  by  the  Abbess  Eva 
four  years  later.  Thus  twice  the  nunnery  was  spared  the 
violence  of  the  English  armies. 

In  1338  occurred  the  most  terrible  flood  recorded  of  the 
Tyne.  The  fields  for  miles  along  its  course  were  devastated. 
Villages  were  swept  away  and  a  large  portion  of  the  town  of 
Haddington  was  inundated  and  the  convent  was  threatened 
with  destruction.  The  story  is  told  that  the  abbess,  taking 
the  statue  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  from  above  its  altar,  and 
followed  by  the  nuns  in  solemn  procession,  marched  to  the 
edge  of  the  swelling  flood,  which  thereupon  turned  aside  and 
began  at  once  to  abate. 

The  convent  seems  to  have  flourished  until  the  early  be- 
ginnings of  the  Reformation,  when  it  was  gradually  suppressed. 

The  buildings  were  all  destroyed  later,  and  almost  no  trace 
of  them  remains. 


CHAPTER    X 


(.. 


ARBROATH   FROM  THE  SOUTHEAST. 


ARBROATH 

As  one  sails  along  the  northern  shore  of 
St.    Andrew's    Bay    he    may    see, 
towering   against   the   dull 
"■^Wj     S^^y  sky,  the  jagged  out- 
line   of    a    mighty    ruin 
mounted    upon    a    bold 
headland,    with    the   sea 


£}SL- 


breaking  in  a  long,  white 
line  upon  the  rocks  at  its  base.  The  walls,  ragged  and 
broken,  tell  us  that  a  once  mighty  edifice  has  been  wholly 
demolished.  Yet  most  conspicuous,  even  from  so  distant  a 
point  of  view,  is  a  tall  pointed  gable  preserving  intact  a  large 
circular  window.  The  effect  of  this  lofty  bit  of  work,  defying 
the  touch  of  time  and  weather,  above  the  shattered  mass  below, 
is  striking  indeed. 

The  ruin  is  pointed  out  as  that  of  the  great  abbey  of  Aber- 
brothic,  one  of  the  most  powerful  monasteries  in  the  North 
during   the   later   Middle   Ages.     A  nearer  view  of  the  ruin   rc- 

156 


ARBROATH  1 5  7 

veals,  even  to  a  further  degree,  the  complete  dilapidation  of 
the  whole  fabric.  The  material,  unlike  that  employed  at  Mel- 
rose, is  soft  and  crumbling.  The  bleak  winds  and  storms  of 
that  desolate  coast  through  the  centuries  have  wrought  havoc 
with  the  yielding  stones.  Huge  blocks  —  four  square,  not  one 
left  upon  another  —  lie  scattered  about,  with  fragments  of 
columns,  broken  capitals,  and  arches  rent  asunder. 

It  is  not  difficult  for  the  imagination  to  restore  upon  the 
far-extending  ground  plan,  marked  by  little  hillocks  of  moulder- 
ing masonry,  an  imposing  mediaeval  monastery,  with  its  towers, 
its  chapter  house,  its  cloisters,  all  surrounded  by  flourishing 
gardens,  verdant  fields,  and  wooded  parks ;  but  how  sad  is  the 
contrast  when  we  return  to  the  Arbroath  monastery  of  to-day, 
unable  to  offer  shelter  even  to  the  rooks,  shorn  of  its  beauty, 
its  lands  barren  and  desolate.  On  all  sides  press  the  awkward 
structures  of  a  manufacturing  seaport  town.  Countless  chimneys 
belch  forth  volumes  of  smoke  that  have  streaked  and  blackened 
the  grand  old  remnant  of  mediacvalism.  The  architecture  dis- 
played in  the  remnants  of  the  churcli  is,  almost  universally,  in 
pointed  style,  bearing  strong  traces  of  the  transition  and  a  few 
marks  of  the  still  older  Norman  ])eri()(l.  There  are  almost  no 
remains  of  decorated  or  the  later  i)ointed  styles,  so  that  the 
church  edifice  at  least  niii.st  have  been  pretty  nearly  of  a  single 
cporh,  and  that  tli(?  earliest  type  of  jiointed  style  in  the 
North. 


io 


-"■'rK 


I  i 
''-, 


ARBRfMllI  :     WEbl     I'OKTAL. 

Colonetles  restored. 


ARBROATH 


159 


The  main  portal  is  the  most  ancient  part  preserved  to  us, 
and  this,  though  distinctly  Norman  in  form,  is  well  infused 
with  Gothic  spirit  in  its  ornament  and  in  the  lightness  of  its 
composition.  The  arch  is  round,  low,  and  broad ;  deeply  re- 
cessed, and  ornamented  with  a  succession  of  mingled  Norman 
and  Gothic  mouldings,  supported  on  either  side  by  ranks  of 
slender  colonettes  whose  capitals  are  simple  moulded  bands. 
Above  the  portal  runs  a  gallery  of  two  rows  of  columns  open- 
ing within  the  church  in  a  pointed  arcade;  the  gallery  is  not 
vaulted,  a  simple  entablature  being  supported  by  the  inner  row 
of  columns,  which  are  curious  polygonal  shafts.  This  work  is 
quite  unlike  anything  else  in  the  range  of  Gothic  art  in  Great 
Britain.  The  walls  within  present  no  very  striking  features ; 
some  of  the  apertures  arc  large,  but  bear  no  remnant  of  tracery. 
The  circular  western  window,  a  fragment  of  which  remains, 
was  one  of  the  larg^est  in   the   Kinijdom. 

The  ground  plan  of  the  church  indicates  an  edifice  of  great 
size  and  elaborate  i:)arts,  a  long  nave  of  nine  bays  having  side 
aisles,  the  first  bay  of  each  being  beneath  one  of  the  great 
western  towers  which  flanked  the  main  portal.  Hroad  tran- 
septs, with  an  eastern  aisle,  reacliL-d  to  north  and  south,  and 
a  huge  central  tower  rose  high  above  the  crossing;  to  \hc  c>ast 
lay  a  sjjacious  choir  of  three  bays,  which  was  carried  on  in  an 
aisleless  sanctuary  of  two  bays  terminating  in  a  flat  end  in  the 
manner  of   l:^aily   EngH.sli   eh  inches. 


i6o 


SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 


In  comparatively  later  years  the  angle  between  the  choir 
and  south  transept  was  filled  with  a  structure  that  doubtless 
served   as   a   sacristy.     To    the    south    of    the    transept    lay    the 

monastic  buildings,  of 
which  few  traces  remain, 
and  the  cloister  garth 
spread  out  beside  the 
nave.  To  the  west  of 
the  abbey  a  large  group 
of  buildings  grew  up  in 
the  later  years  of  the 
abbey's  history.  These 
were  the  abbot's  house 
and  numerous  civic 
buildings  which  were 
the  result  of  the  abbey's 
connection  with  the  af- 
fairs of  state  through  the 
worldly  interests  of  its 
later  superiors.  We 
shall  confine  our  interest 
to  the  more  truly  monastic  portions  of  the  abbey,  however, 
and  content  ourselves  with  the  magnificent  ruin  of  the  church 
itself. 


A.  Vm. 

B.  Clioir. 

C.  S&Dctuarj. 

D.  D.   TraDwpta. 

E.  Suriitj. 

F.  Cloutcr. 

G.  8l;|ie. 
11.    CIiapt«r  HouM. 
K.    !>■*»?  u<  (M'.uttCT. 
M.   Doorwaj  tu 

Nurtli. 
N,  N.   Wc«tCTii 


PLAN   OF  ARBROATH   ABBEY. 


On     the    extensive     ground     plan,    above    described,     there 


ARBROATH  1 6 1 

remains  standing,  of  the  nave,  goodly  portions  of  the  western 
towers,  with  the  portal,  a  single  bay  of  the  nave  (the  northern 
tower  bay),  and  a  doorway  in  the  north  wall  adjoining  the 
tower,  the  long  wall  of  the  south  aisle  with  its  high  pointed 
windows,  two  doorways,  and  the  corbels  and  wall  ribs  of  the 
aisle  vaults,  and  the  two  long  lines  of  main  pier  bases.  At 
the  transepts  the  huge  bases  of  the  tower  piers  are  to  be  seen, 
and  the  foundations  of  the  north  transept  wall  have  been  dis- 
covered. The  south  transept  is  complete  but  for  its  east  wall, 
and  is  a  splendid  specimen  of  transitional  work.  On  the 
ground  level  a  blind  arcade  of  narrow  cusped  arches  with  slen- 
der colonettes  adorns  the  south  and  west  walls  of  the  transept, 
and  a  narrow  low  doorway  opens  upon  a  stair  leading  to  the 
upper  passages  of  the  church.  Above  this  a  second  arcade  of 
delicate  lancet  points,  supported  by  colonettes,  is  carried  across 
the  end  wall.  The  west  wall  is  plain  at  this  level,  but  above 
it  the  entire  expanse  to  a  height  of  sixty  feet  is  filled  with 
two  narrow,  round-headed  windows,  one  of  them  somewhat 
destroyed.  Across  the  end  wall,  above  the  two  blind  arcades 
and  still  below  the  triforium  level,  runs  a  fine  open  arcade  of 
slender  round  arches  with  a  passage  behind.  Then  come  two 
fine,  tall,  pointed  windows  below  the  "round  O"  whicli  is  so 
characteristic  a   feature   of   the  abbey  as  seen   froui   a  distance. 

Of    the    choir    liltlc    is    left    exceptinci:   the    remains    of    bases, 
but   a   considerable   portion    of   the   sanctuary   has   Ixcn    spared; 

M 


1 62  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

tlic  cast  end  with  a  fine  wall  arcade  and  two  stories  of  three 
lancet  windows,  well  proportioned  and  richly,  though  not  lav- 
ishly, decorated.  The  upper  story  has  disappeared ;  it  is  con- 
jectured to  have  been  of  the  St.  Catherine  type,  with  great 
wheel  window.  The  site  of  the  high  altar  is  easily  traced  in 
the  east  end,  and,  before  it,  the  sunken  chamber  that  originally 
contained  the  body  of  the  founder. 

The  exterior  buttresses  of  the  sanctuary  are  of  excellent 
early  design.  The  sacristy,  reached  by  an  interesting  pointed 
doorway  in  the  easternmost  bay  of  the  choir,  is  a  fine  vaulted 
structure  of  the  early  fifteenth  century.  An  elegant  arcade 
adorns  the  walls  on  the  ground  level.  The  windows  in  the  east- 
ern wall  are  two  grouped  lancets,  but  that  to  the  south  is  filled 
with  mullions  and  tracery  of  the  decorated  pattern.  Various 
small  carvings  in  this  apartment  are  worthy  of  study.  Above 
the  broad  four-celled  vault  was  another  apartment  which  is 
now  roofless,  but  otherwise  pretty  w'ell  preserved. 

The  abbey  connected  with  the  cloister  only  by  the  door- 
ways in  the  nave.  Adjoining  the  transept  is  a  diminutive  slype, 
and,  beyond  this,  fragments  of  the  chapter  house;  an  octagonal 
turret  marks  the  southeast  angle  of  this  building,  and  is  suffi- 
cient to  show  that  the  style  here  corresponded  to  that  of  the 
church  edifice. 

Fragments  of  the  upper  stories  of  the  main  body  of  the 
nave   and    choir,  preserved    in    the   tower   bay  and   in   responds 


ARBROATH 


163 


akhkoath:   south  transeit. 

From   Point  2  on   Plitn. 


at  other  points  in  the  ruins,  show  tliat  tlie  main  arcade,  sonic 
thirty  feet  high,  consisted  of  fmc  groups  of  slender  columns 
willi    richly    moulded    arches.       The    triforium    was   a  fully  do- 


1 64  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

velopcd  gallery,  a  broad  round  arch  over  each  of  the  main 
arches  embracing  a  sub-order  of  two  pointed  arches  resting  on 
a  slender  culonette.  The  clerestory  was  exceedingly  lofty  and 
carried  the  nave  wall  to  an  unprecedented  height.  The  capi- 
tals throughout  seem  to  have  been  of  the  plain  moulded  type, 
though  a  respond  in  the  south  transept  shows  rich  foliate  carv- 
ing. The  great  wheel  windows  were  probably  never  traceried,  but 
filled  with  glass  in  leaded  designs  supported  upon  bars  of  iron. 

Very  few  of  the  records  of  this  abbey  have  been  preserved, 
and  it  is  only  an  approximation  that  we  can  reach  with  regard 
to  the  dates  of  its  various  parts.  In  a  great  art  centre,  in 
France  or  in  England,  it  is  a  comparatively  easy  matter  to 
determine  the  date  of  a  piece  of  architectural  work  by  a  com- 
parison of  its  style,  its  composition,  and  the  general  character 
of  the  workmanship  with  those  of  neighbouring  monuments 
whose  dates  are  known.  This  rule  is  not  infallible,  but  may, 
in  general,  be  depended  upon.  In  a  remote  corner  of  the 
world  a  very  different  condition  presents  itself ;  architectural 
changes  travelled  slowly.  This  is  plainly  demonstrated  in  some 
of  the  cathedrals  of  Eno:land.  Were  not  the  massive  walls  of 
Peterborough  still  building  while  the  light  and  graceful  piers 
and  arches  of  Paris  and  Laon  were  soaring  on  the  other  side 
of  the  channel?  So  that  although  the  early  parts  of  Arbroath 
are   Norman   in    tendency,  and    the    later   parts    strongly  transi- 


ARBROATH  I 65 

tional,  we  must  believe  that  neither  are  coeval  with  the  corre- 
sponding periods  in  France  or  even  in  England,  but  some  years 
later,  after  the  English  Gothic  was  well  established  over  the 
border. 

About  the  founding  of  this  monastery,  history  comes  to  our 
aid.  Here  is  an  abbey  with  which  St.  David  had  nothing 
whatever  to  do ;  he  had  long  been  dead  and  buried  when  its 
corner  stone  was  laid.  The  honour  of  this  distinction  is  as- 
cribed to  William  the  Lion  King  of  Scotland,  in  11 78.  Will- 
iam had  suffered  many  indignities  at  the  hands  of  Henry  II. 
of  England,  while  endeavouring  to  recover  the  lost  Scottish 
territory  of  Northumberland,  and  had  been  held  a  prisoner  in 
Normandy  by  the   English  king  for  nearly  two  years. 

The  Scottish  king  knew  of  only  one  man  who  had  set  the 
English  monarch  at  naught,  had  triumphed,  even  after  death, 
over  his  (William's)  bitterest  enemy.  'J'his  man  had  been 
canonized  just  five  years  before,  and  to  St.  Thomas  a  Becket 
William  resolved  to  dedicate  his  church,  a  Scottish  monastery 
sacred  to  an  English  saint.  Thus  the  great  abbey  of  Aber- 
brothic  was,  in  all  ])r()1)al)ility,  one  of  the  first  establishments 
to  l)ear  the  name  of  the  martyr  of  Canterbury. 

The  fu'st  aljbot,  who  came  hither  with  Iiis  little  Ijand  from 
Kelso,  was  Reginald;  under  Reginald  and  his  successors, 
Henry,  Radolphus,  and  (".illxrt,  woik  on  llie  abbey  was  ])uslu'<l 
with  all  haste;  the    king  made  frequent   visits   to   the   abbey,  so 


1 66  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

Holinshcd  tells  us,  and  urged  the  overseers  and  masters  of  the 
works  to  spare  no  cost  but  to  carry  out  the  work  to  perfection 
and  in  magnificence.  In  12 14  the  king  died  and  was  laid  in 
a  superb  tomb  within  the  choir.  A  part  of  the  effigy  that 
represented  the  king  upon  this  gorgeous  shrine  is  still  to  be 
seen  among  the  relics  in  the  sacristy.  It  is  finely  executed 
in  hard  fossiliferous  marble  and  bears  a  most  striking  resem- 
blance to  the  effigy  of  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion  in  the  cathe- 
dral of  Rouen.  The  pose  and  arrangement  of  the  drapery 
over,  the  armour  are  very  similar  to  the  Rouen  figure,  but  the 
most  striking  similarity  is  in  the  little  figures  of  knights  which, 
lizard-like,  are  represented  crawling  over  the  huge  recumbent 
form  of  the  king.  A  glance  will  satisfy  the  archaeologist  that 
this  sculpture  is  not  a  product  of  a  native  talent  nor  an  im- 
portation from  England,  but  a  work  of  the  best  French  art  of 
the  day. 

A  few  years  after,  the  transept  was  near  enough  to  com- 
pletion to  receive  the  body  of  Gilchrist,  Earl  of  Angus,  whose 
tomb  was  erected  in  St.  Catherine's  aisle. 

Under  Abbot  Ralph  de  Lamley,  in  1233,  almost  sixty 
years  after  the  foundation  stones  were  laid,  the  abbey  was 
brought  to  completion  and  was  consecrated,  as  a  whole,  with 
great  ceremony  in  the  presence  of  the  founder's  son,  the 
"  Peaceful "  Alexander. 

From  this  time  the  abbey  of   Arbroath   became  preeminent 


ARBROATH  1 67 

in  the  North.  The  number  of  clergy  was  greatly  increased 
and  the  services  of  the  abbey  were  conducted  with  the  greatest 
pornp  and  magnificence.  The  abbey  was  appointed  guardian 
of  the  Brechernach,  the  sacred  banner  of  great  St.  Cokimba, 
a  much-coveted  honour.  The  abbots  fostered  and  encour- 
aged commerce  and  at  night  kept  the  sanctuary  a  blaze  of 
light  for  the  benefit  of  mariners. 

The  abbots  were  almost  always  men  of  distinction  and 
extended  influence.  Abbot  Henry,  appointed  in  1288,  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  figures  of  his  time,  was  chosen  to  rep- 
resent the  Estates  of  Scotland  before  Edward  I.  Abbot  John 
was  seized  by  the  English  monarch  and  carried  a  prisoner 
to  England  because  he  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  fealty.  In 
131  I  an  ex-chanccllor  of  the  realm  was  mitred  and  placed 
in  the  abbot's  chair,  Bernard  de  Linton,  the  staunch  friend 
and  powerful  minister  of  King  Robert  Bruce.  Abbot  Bernard 
bore  the  famous  Brcchernach  into  the  battle  of  Bannockburn, 
and  remained  throughout  the  battle  near  his  sovereign.  In 
1320  he  drew  up  the  notal^le  remonstrance  against  Edward 
TI.  and  presented  it  to  the  Pope,  John  XXII.  He  sat  in  the 
memorajjle  parliament  which  met  within  the  aljljey's  walls, 
when  the  I»arons  and  Instates  of  Scotland  confirmed  the  inde- 
pendence  rjf  the    Kini^dom,   and   died    in    1328. 

Abbot  jnlin  (iedy  held  the  office  for  twenty-five  years  after 
his  election   in    1370.      During   his   long   rule    this   abbot   built  a 


1 68  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

fine  harbour  and  placed  a  bell  on  the  famous  Inchcape  Rock, 
as  has  been  told  by  Southey.  This  bell,  for  the  guidance  of 
seamen,  was  cut  adrift  by  a  notorious  pirate,  who  was  himself 
shortly  after  wrecked  upon  that  dangerous  shoal.  About  this 
time  the  abbey  suffered  from  a  frightful  conflagration,  the 
result  of  lightning,  when  all  the  roofs  were  destroyed.  The 
poor  monks  were  driven  to  seek  shelter  where  they  could  find 
it  until  their  own  was  restored.  In  141 1  Walter  Paniter 
came  to  the  abbacy.  This  abbot,  another  fighting  prelate,  took 
active  part  in  the  famous  battle  between  the  Lindsays  and 
Ogilvies  at  Arbroath  in  1445.  He  took  sides  with  the  Lind- 
says and  aided  in  the  slaughter  of  some  three  hundred  of  the 
Ogilvies.  During  his  long  term  of  office.  Abbot  Walter  under- 
took extensive  building  operations,  of  which  the  sacristy,  bear- 
ing his  arms  in  the  capitals  and  keystones,  is  a  fine  example. 

After  his  successor,  Robert  Alexander,  came  Richard  Guth- 
rie, who  was  succeeded  upon  resignation  by  Malcolm  Brydy. 
This  abbot  seems  to  have  had  a  faculty  for  interfering  with 
the  affairs  of  other  people.  fie  began  by  making  public 
charges  against  the  rule  of  his  predecessor,  accusing  him  of 
carelessness  and  sloth.  About  this  time  it  was  the  custom  of 
the  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews  to  pay  visits  to  this  and  other 
wealthy  abbeys  with  a  gorgeous  train  of  over  two  hundred  horse- 
men. The  splendour  of  the  equipage,  "  the  stir  of  jewelled  mantle 
and   of   golden    spur,"  awoke   the    envy  or   suspicion    of    Abbot 


ARBROATH  169 

Malcolm,  and  he  complained  of  the  prodigality  of  the  worthy- 
bishop.  But  this  meddling  seems  not  to  have  pleased  the 
abbot's  superior,  for  he  soon  found  himself  unmitred  and  in 
the  "  Bottle  Dungeon "  of  St.  Andrews,  and  Richard,  his  pred- 
ecessor, ruled  in  his  stead.  A  later  incumbent  was  James, 
Duke  of  Ross,  brother  of  King  James  IV.,  who  drew  revenues 
from  St.  Andrews,  Holyrood,  and  Dunfermline  as  well,  without 
ever  performing  an  ecclesiastical  function.  The  next  soldier 
prelate  was  Abbot  Hepburn,  who  fell  on  the  bloody  field  of 
Flodden  beside  his  father; 

"Earl  Adam  Hepburn,  —  he  who  died 
On  Flodden,  by  his  sovereign's  side." 

Next  came  James  Beaton,  who  left  the  Metropolitan  See 
of  Glasgow  for  the  richer  emoluments  of  a  simi)le  abbacy  at 
Arbnjuth.  Abbot  James  resigned  in  faxour  of  his  famous 
nephew,  David,  the  splendid,  the  sumptuous,  the  favourite  of 
King  James  V.,  the  most  exquisite  courtier  of  the  realm,  who 
became  abbot  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  whose  deeds  of  daring, 
whose  statecraft,  whose  amours  are  well  known  in  the  history 
of  tliose  troublous  years. 

"When  like  a  lone  star  o'er  the  sea, 
Rose  his  lovely  Mary  Ogilvie." 

Abbot  David,  elevated  lo  .1  cardlnalate  by  Poj^e  Paul  III., 
appointed   Archbishop  of   St.   Andrews  and  priiii.itc   of  all   Scot- 


lyo  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

land,  ambassador  to  the  court  of  Francis  I.,  where  he  nego- 
tiated the  marriage  of  James  Vo  with  Magdalen,  daughter  of 
Francis,  and  the  second  marriage  with  Mary  of  Guise,  the 
violent  persecutor,  who  burned  Wishart  at  the  stake,  was  cut 
down  at  the  zenith  of  his  power  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin 
in  his  castle  at  St.  Andrews.  Abbot  David  Beaton  was  the 
last  of  the  important  superiors  of  Aberbrothic. 

The  abbey  does  not  seem  to  have  suffered  violence  at  any 
time  during  its  history,  and  it  was  singularly  spared  by  the 
Reformers.  But  as  the  abbacy  became  a  temporal  lordship 
and  its  revenues  went  to  fill  private  lay  coffers,  there  were 
no  funds  to  be  expended  upon  the  abbey  and  it  simply  fell 
through  neglect  and  decay. 

In  the  heart  of  a  flourishing  city  so  great  a  supply  of  build- 
ing materials  was  too  great  a  temptation  to  the  burghers,  who 
pulled  it  down,  stone  by  stone,  until  comparatively  recent  his- 
torical interest  checked  the  ravages  of  peaceful  plunder. 

I  cannot  close  without  a  reference  to  the  aged  keeper  of 
the  abbey,  G.  W.  Donald,  who  is  one  of  those  delightful  spirits 
that  lives  for  one  all-engrossing  object  —  the  poems,  songs, 
and  other  writings  of  this  old  gentleman,  devoted  principally 
to  the  subject  of  his  care,  are  w^ell  known  in  Scotland. 

My  conversation  with  him  was  of  peculiar  interest  to  me; 
for  hearing  that  I  was  from  America,  he  asked  if  I  had  ever 
been    in    "  Princetoon."      When    I    told    him    that    I    had    spent 


ARBROATH 


171 


four  of  my  happiest  years  in  that  place,  his  interest  warmed  at 
once,  and  he  told  me  how  my  dear  old  president,  Dr.  McCosh, 
had  preached  his  first  sermon  in  the  parish  church  of  Arbroath, 
the  direct  successor  of  the  abbey.  He  recounted  how  the  ser- 
mon had  differed  from  that  of  the  usual  preachers,  how  the 
"  auld  wives "  criticised  it,  and  how  it  appealed  to  the  younger 
generation  and  to  him.  Dr.  McCosh,  it  seems,  was  for  some 
years  pastor  of  this  historic  old  town. 


t\ !  In  i*#. 


j^. 


■'«slS>: 


\ 


s. 


ARBRUATH  :     NAVK,    1.00KIN<i    U  KSl". 

Front  Point  4  on    I'lan. 


CHAPTER   XI 

KINLOSS  — BEAULY 

It  is  a  refreshing  yet  inexplicable  fact  that  sometimes 
nearest  to  the  habitation  of  men  we  find  the  most  secluded 
spots.  How  delightful  it  is  to  turn  aside  from  the  noise  and 
dust  of  the  streets  of  our  workaday  world  and  after  a  few  steps 
find  ourselves  alone  amid  the  restful  scenes  of  untamed  nature. 

A  few  hours  of  travel  from  the  American  metropolis  will 
bring  one  into  the  solitude  of  primeval  forests,  while  a  small 
number  of  miles  of  railroad  from  London  carry  the  traveller 
to  a  country  as  wild  as  when  the  conquering  Caesar  first  laid 
eyes  upon  it,  where  he  may  find  subjects  of  her  Majesty  who 
neither  understand  nor  speak  the   English  tongue. 

One  has  but  to  seek  the  north  country  and  to  journey  a 
few  hours  beyond  Inverness  into  the  shires  of  Ross  and  Crom- 
arty, Sutherland  or  Caithness,  to  find  himself  as  far  removed 
from  the  "  scenes  and  motion  of  the  living  world  "  as  in  Syrian 
desert  or  Canadian  forest.  These  shires  are,  of  course,  dotted 
over  with  the  shooting-boxes  of  a  few  gentlemen,  but  their  wild 
retreats  are  practically  unknown  to  the  English  people  at  large. 

172 


KINLOSS  — BEAULY  '  1 73 

Not  long  ago  I  crossed  the  Pentland  Firth  for  a  short  so- 
journ among  the  northern  islands.  At  Kirkwall,  in  the  register 
of  its  one  little  hotel,  I  was  able  to  look  over,  in  a  few  minutes, 
the  names  of  all  the  visitors  to  the  Orkneys  for  the  last  twenty- 
years.  Pursuing  my  way  still  further  north  to  the  Shetlands, 
I  found  that  mine  host  at  Lerwick  had  the  names  of  all  who 
had  penetrated  thus  far  during  the  last  ten  years  at  his  tongue's 
end.  And  these  groups  of  islands  so  easily  within  reach  are 
as  enchanting  as  can  be  imagined,  whether  we  look  for  natural 
scenery,  quaint  and  interesting  people,  or  a  simple  change  of 
surroundinii^s. 

Man  is  singularly  lacking  in  originality,  but  no  more  in  any 
role  than  as  a  tourist.  With  the  middle  of  summer  it  seems  as 
if  all  Eno'land  soucrht  the  Highlands  for  a  lonoer  or  shorter  visit. 

*r>  «r>  Cj  Cj 

Thousands  of  Americans  flock  thither  from  home  and  from 
the  Continent;  we  travel  U])on  crowded  coaches,  are  packed  like 
sardines  in  miniature  hotels  ;  we  overcrowd  the  Clyde  steamers 
until  they  seem  like  Thames  excursion  boats  or  the  "  Hudson 
River  by  daylight,"  —  }et  turn  aside  a  mile  from  the  beaten  path 
and  you  will  be  lost  in  inipenctral)le  thicket,  and  the  natives 
regard  you  as  a  "freak";  I)ut  \-ou  will  find  far  raivr  views, 
more  charming  nooks,  and  even  more  beautiful  monuments  of 
bygone  days  than  any  of  those  that  are  well  known  to  evc-ry  one. 
Inverness  i.^  the  tourist  centre  foi-  llic  North,  i'^lgin  is  a 
large    city   visited   yearly    by    many    lunidrids   of   travellers,   yet 


174  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

how  many  tourists  liave  seen  tlie  lovely  little  abbey  of  Beauly 
only  ten  miles  from  Inverness,  or  have  even  heard  the  name 
of  Kinloss  or  Pluscarden,  two  charming  and  most  interesting 
ruined  abbeys  near  Elgin.  One  may  say  that  comparatively 
few  people  are  particularly  interested  in  the  ruins  of  mediaeval 
monasticism,  and  yet  how  many  of  the  thousands  who  visit 
Melrose  yearly  are  not  profoundly  impressed  by  that  stately 
ruined  pile,  even  those  who  are  not  easily  moved  to  admiration. 
Melrose  is  not  so  much  more  lovely  than  a  number  of  other 
abbeys.  Is  it  possible  that  the  few  lines  of  Scott  and  Lockhart 
can  have  made  so  great  a  difference.''  Is  it  solely  literary 
fame  that  gives  this  ruin  its  charm,  or  is  it  true  that  Melrose  is 
loved  and  admired  only  because  that  is  the  "thing"  to  do.f*  I 
believe  that  other  ruined  abbeys  are  slighted  because  people 
feel  that  they  have  not  the  time  to  explore  for  themselves  the 
more  secluded  paths  of  the  North  Country.  They  depend 
upon  guide-books  that  give  three  pages  to  Melrose  and  three 
lines  to  Pluscarden,  and  are  only  waiting  to  be  shown  the 
loveliness  of  unknown  spots.  There  is  no  reason  why  many 
of  Scotland's  ruined  abbeys  should  not  be  well  known  and 
loved ;  not  all  equally,  of  course,  but  each  for  its  peculiar  charm, 
for  their  variety  is  unending  in  site,  style,  and  historical  as- 
sociations. 

The    abbeys    of    the    far    north    cannot    boast    the    antiquity 
of  many  of   those  in  the  centre  and  south,  though    lona's  mis- 


KINLOSS  —  BEAULY  I  7  5 

sionary  monks  had  built  their  cells  along  the  shores  of  Moray 
Firth  at  a  very  early  period.  Malcolm  II.,  while  waging  war 
against  the  Danes  in  Banff  in  loio,  vowed,  by  way  of  thank- 
offering  if  victorious,  to  extend  the  chapel  of  St.  Moloch  by 
three  spear  lengths.  This  would  indicate  a  well-established 
religious  seat,  and  there  are  other  records  of  Christian  activity 
very  early  in  this  region. 

But  this  was  a  turbulent  borderland  to  the  Scottish  Kino:- 
dom  for  many  centuries,  even  more  disturbed  than  the  English 
border,  for  Caithness  and  Sutherland,  and  often  Ross  and  Crom- 
arty, were  under  the  sway  of  the  Norsemen,  who  had  estab- 
lished their  semi-piratic  rule  in  the  Orkneys  at  an  early  period. 
The  establishment  of  extensive  monastic  institutions  along  this 
desolate  coast  could  therefore  scarcely  be  looked  for  until  the 
strength  of  the  Scottish  realm  should  become  more  diffused, 
or  at  least  until    the  Orcadian    jarls  had  accepted    Christianity. 

Early  in  the  twelfth  century  the  conversion  of  the  Orkneys 
began.  /Mexander  "the  fierce"  and  David  I.  had  established 
undisputed  sway  beyond  the  Grampians,  and  the  Church  imme- 
diately reestablished  her  footing  upon  that  bleak  nortlierii  shore. 

The  Cistercians  were  the  first  order  after  the  heiniits  to 
penetrate  the  forest  or  to  guide  their  tiny  boats  around  bold 
Kinnaird's  I  lead.  In  1150  a  little  band  of  tin's  order  from 
Melrose,  with  the  charter  of  I)a\i(l  I.,  aiK  Iiorcd  within  the 
shelter  of   I'indhorn   Bay,  and   in   the  same  year  laid   the  founda- 


176  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 

tions  of  the  abbey  of  Kinloss,  not  far  from  this  shallow  but 
well-protected  harbour.  Durino-  the  three  years  that  remained 
to  the  king,  he  made  large  and  frequent  gifts  to  the  abbey ; 
and  soon  a  stately  edifice  in  the  late  Norman  style  stood  as 
the  pioneer  of  monasteries  on  the  Moray   Mrth. 

To-day,  as  one  journeys  by  rail  from  Aberdeen  to  Inver- 
ness, he  may  see,  not  far  from  the  railway  and  between  it  and 
the  sea,  a  few  tall  fragments  of  late  Gothic  work  and  some 
low  arches  of  the  earlier  Norman.  These  are  all  that  remain 
of  the  abbey  of  Kinloss,  which  existed  in  a  singular  state  of 
preservation  until  the  time  of  the  Protectorate,  when  it  was 
ruthlessly  dismantled  and  torn  down,  its  finely  cut  stone  being 
removed  to  Inverness  for  the  citadel  of  the  greatest  of  modern 
vandals. 

The  abbey  comprised  a  large  cruciform  church  in  the  best 
style  of  the  Early  English,  as  we  can  discover  from  a  few  frag- 
ments of  shafts  and  vault  ribs  which  remain,  and  which  must 
have  been  built  within  forty  or  fifty  years  after  the  foundations, 
a  cloister  court  and  monasterial  buildings  to  the  south,  and 
an  abbot's  house  and  other  structures  to  the  north.  The  only 
portions  of  which  any  recognizable  fragments  were  spared  are 
the  south  transept  and  south  wall  of  the  choir,  with  low,  vaulted 
buildings  adjoining.  The  lines  of  the  cloister  are  easily  traced, 
and  many  heaps  of  carven  stone  lie  among  the  graves  of  the 
churchyard. 


KINLOSS  — BEAULY  177 

Nearly  a  hundred  years  passed  before  another  brotherhood 
came  to  aid  in  the  reclaiming  of  this  wilderness.  The  second 
quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century  had  begun  when  Lord  St. 
John  Bissett  of  Lovat  brought  seven  French  monks  from  the 
monastery  of  Val  des  Choux  in  Burgundy  to  found  a  little 
priory  on  the  secluded  banks  of  the  westernmost  arm  of  the 
Moray  Firth,  —  the  river  Beauly,  —  opposite  his  castle  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  river's  mouth.  Lord  Lovat's  castle  has 
long  since  disappeared,  but  the  church  of  his  founding  is  still 
to  be  seen,  roofless,  but  otherwise  in  a  fine  state  of  preserva- 
tion. How  the  priory  of  Beauly,  so  near  the  sea,  so  easily 
reached  from  Inverness,  escaped  the  rapacity  of  Cromwell's 
building  craze  is  a  mystery.  The  monastic  buildings  have 
completely  disappeared,  it  is  true,  but  the  little  church  seems 
quite  miraculously  to  have  been  spared. 

At  the  end  of  the  long,  broad,  well-kept  street  that  forms 
the  core  of  the  hamlet  of  Beauly,  in  the  midst  of  a  group  of 
grand  old  trees,  surrounded  by  the  graves  of  several  centuries, 
stands  Beauly's  ancient  priory,  sheltered  by  an  enormous  elm 
that  sprang  up  within  its  walls  some  hundreds  of  years  ago, 
neglected,  overgrown  with  grass  and  mosses,  the  burial  j^lace  of 
the  lords  of  Lovat  and  knights  oi  the  families  of  MacKen/.ie 
and   (/hisholm. 

The  abbey  is  not  to  be  seen  from  the  village,  the  great  trees 
which    cluster  in   the   churchyard    forming    an    effectual    screen; 


I7S 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


but  as  one  i)asscs  through  the  main  street  out  toward  the  new 
church,  where  the  view  is  superbly  fine  to  north  and  east,  he 
may  see  across  the  level  down  the  whole  north  side  of  the 
ruin,  with  its  simply  traceried  choir  windows,  its  angle  tower, 
and  its  dome  of  bright  green  foliage. 


if?---    v>''Kl.        ^p'j 


r-v 


'A-'/,* 


% 


^-ii  ^  •  :-i  ^-^ii  .Sir-'—-'  ■^■. 


THE  ABBEY  FROM   THE   HIGHROAD. 


But  we  should  enter  by  the  churchyard  gate  if  we  can 
find  the  witchlike,  half-blind  dame  who  guards  the  key.  The 
west  front  is  one  of  the  latest  parts  of  the  building.  It  is 
very  simple  and  dignified  for  a  fifteenth-century  front,  and 
consists  only  of  an  unpretentious  pointed  arched  portal  with 
rather  heavily  moulded  arch  and  jambs,  surmounted  by  a  small 
trefoil    niche.     Above    this    a    tall,   well-proportioned    window   is 


KINLOSS  —  BEAULY 


179 


carried  up  into  the  steep  gable.  The  fa9ade  has  lost  its  flank- 
ing buttresses  and  consequently  gives  the  impression  of  being 
rather  too  narrow. 


The  plan  of  this  church  is  totally  different  from  that  of 
any  we  have  seen  hitherto  —  a  long  aisleless  nave  and  a  choir 
also  without  aisles,  transepts  which  pro- 
ject well  on  either  side  but  which  are 
practically  closed  off  from  the  choir  and 
nave  and  answer  the  purpose  of  annexed 
monastic  buildings,  that  to  the  north 
serving  as  the  chapter  house  and  scrip- 
torium, and  that  to  the  south  beins:  the 
sacristy,  its  upper  story  opening  the 
church  as  we  shall  see.  The  nave  is 
of  the  plainest  design,  in  a  single 
story,  and  not  so  well  built  as  the  other 
portions  of  the  edifice,  constructed  as  it  is  of  small  stones  of 
different  sizes  and  not  well  cut.  On  the  north  side  is  a  ranire 
of  small  blunt-pointed  windows  of  uniform  shape  and  size. 
The  opposite  side  is  irregularly  designed  as  to  its  ojienings, 
and  bears  evidence  of  frccnunl  reconstructions.  The  sole 
interesting  feature  of  this  na\'e  is  a  grou])  of  o])cnings  high 
up  on  the  south  wall  adjoining  the  entrance  to  the  sacristy. 
These  three  openings,  which  overlooked   the  roof  of  the  cloister 


!      A.   Choir. 
!       n.    Nare. 

C.    CliRpt<»r  Houpp, 

^^c^i)lt^nll^l  above. 
I>.    Sacripty.  .Sinking 
Gallery  aboTO. 
E.    Clol»l,T. 
f-)        f.    Tomb  NichpB. 

g.  Tomb  of  Sir  Kenneth 

Mackcniie. 
Ii.   Fireplace. 


ri.AN   OF  THE  ABBEY  OF 
BEAULY. 


I  So 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBKYS 


walk,  are  equilateral  triangles,  curvilinear  on  two  sides,  fitted 
with  plates  of  geometrical  tracery  that  bring  the  interior  open- 
ings to  trefoil  form. 

This  group,  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  is  unique,  and  is  certainly 


"S^---r-  '•■^.f^- 


-Ti  r^^r-r-a^ 


.x^-"^ 


WINDOWS  IN   SOUTH   WALL  OF  NAVE. 
Point  2  on  Flan. 


E*«i'l'-''1 1- »J 


very  effective,  and  could  be  successfully  reproduced   in  modern 
church    architecture    where    high    light-openings  are  required. 

At  the  transept  we  come  to  the  oldest  part  of  the  struc- 
ture, doubtless  coeval  with  the  founding  of  the  abbey;  here 
again    we    find    the    expression    of    a    certain    originality.      The 


KIN  LOSS— BEAULY  l8l 

main  body  of  the  church  having  no  aisles,  and  the  arms  of 
the  transept  (for  so  we  may  term  it)  being  approximately  of 
the  same  width  as  the  nave,  the  walls  running  parallel  to  the 
major  and  the  minor  axes  are  brought  together  so  as  to  reen- 
force  each  other  at  four  points,  which  are  practically  at  the 
angles  of  a  square  over  which  was  doubtless  placed  the  great 
wooden  tower  (to  be  referred  to  later)  at  the  juncture  of  the 
two  sets  of  roofs,  i.e.  above  the  crossing. 

On  the  ground  story  the  transepts  are  screened  off  from 
the  church  by  a  heavy  wall  pierced  on  either  side  with  a 
round-arched  doorway  and  window,  the  windows  being  provided 
with  a  thin  curtain  wall  which  forms  a  broad  niche  on  either 
side  of  it.  Above  this,  on  the  north  side,  the  wall  is  plain, 
but  on  the  other  a  broad  pointed  niche  opens  into  the  tran- 
sept, which  plainly  had  two  stories,  the  upper  story,  opening 
thus  into  the  church,  being  what  was  called  a  singing  gallery. 
It  is  easy  to  find  on  either  side  of  the  arch  and  along  the 
top  of  the  wall  the  remains  of  a  traceried  balustrade  which 
screened  off  the  lower  portion  of  the  gallery. 

The  choir  is  in  all  respects  the  most  successful  portion  of 
the  edifice.  A  broad  cast  window,  totally  ruined  now,  filled 
the  space  above  the  altar.  On  either  hand  are  rows  of  grace- 
ful lancet-pointed  windows,  well  spaced  beneath  a  continuous 
arcade  of  mouldings  once  sui)i)orted  by  exceedingly  slender 
colonettes,  the  bases  and  moulded  capitals  of  which   are  still  in 


1 82  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

place.  These  windows  seem  to  have  been  provided  with  very 
simple  tracery  at  a  later  date,  but  this  in  no  way  impairs  the 
simple  beauty  of  the  design.  In  the  wall  near  the  site  of  the 
high  altar  are  the  remains  of  a  piscina  and  an  ambry,  which 
make  the  little  sanctuary  seem  quite  complete.  Underfoot  the 
grass  grows  long  and  rank,  and  a  number  of  forgotten  tomb- 
stones totter  or  lie  half  buried  in  the  mould. 

The  chapter  house,  called  in  old  records  the  "  North 
Work,"  the  only  portion  of  the  edifice  that  could  boast  a 
vaulted  ceiling,  appears  to  be  slightly  later  than  the  choir, 
unless  perhaps  the  tracery  here  also  is  a  reconstruction.  This 
structure,  square  in  plan,  was  covered  by  vaulting  in  two 
oblong  compartments.  Narrow  lancet  windows  provided  the 
light,  and  an  octagonal  tower  in  one  angle  afforded  access  to 
the  upper  floor,  which  had  a  large  window  of  the  fifteenth- 
century  form  and  tracery,  and  was  fitted  up  as  a  scriptorium 
or  library. 

The  opposite  transept  belongs  again  to  the  earliest  period, 
but  is  of  little  interest.  It  is  connected  with  the  cloister, 
where  we  find  traces  of  a  roofed  arcade  and  a  fireplace  against 
the  church  wall. 

If  we  walk  around  the  church,  we  cannot  but  be  surprised 
to  notice  how  little  of  the  material  has  been  pilfered  during 
the  lapse  of  centuries.  The  exterior  buttresses,  however,  which 
naturally  contained    the   finest  pieces   of  cut  stone,  have  disap- 


KI N  LOSS  — BEAU  LY 


183 


peared  entirely  from  the  nave  and  chapter  house  and,  as  far 
as  the  base  moulding,  from  the  choir.  I  may  have  been  mis- 
taken, but  I  fancied  I  saw  stones,  that  bore  marks  suspiciously 
like  those  of  the  Gothic  chisel,  in  the  neighbouring  parish 
church. 


,-Ij.- 


?r'V 


^•?X', 


^^1? 


BKAtn.Y:    CMDIR. 
From  Point  j  on  /'Ian. 


The  story  of  Heauly  Piiory  is  uneventful ;  one  year  after 
its  dedication  to  St.  John  the  Iiai)tist  by  i -ord  Lovat,  the 
priory's    charter    was    confirmed    by    Pope    Gregory    XI,      Scot- 


1 84  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

land's  wars  with  Norway  and  with  England  seem  to  have  had 
little  effect  upon  the  placid  life  of  the  brothers,  who  were  of 
the  order  of  Valliscaulium,  one  of  the  strictest  and  most 
secluded  sects  in  Europe  after  the  revival  in  1200.  Generation 
after  generation  of  monks  for  four  hundred  years  became  neo- 
phytes, lived  their  life  of  self-denial  and  penitential  devotion 
within  the  priory's  walls,  and  passed  away,  leaving  no  record  of 
their  existence  but  the  clearings  in  the  wilderness,  the  rich 
fields,  and  the  various  changes  in  architectural  style  that  their 
church  manifests.  Little  record  is  to  be  had  of  the  successive 
priors  until  early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  when  Prior  Hugh 
Frazer  (1430-40)  undertook  to  build  the  "north  work,"  which 
refers  to  the  chapter  house  and  scriptorium.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  nephew  Alexander,  who  built  the  great  tower  above  the 
crossing  and  placed  in  it  a  peal  of  bells.  Sixty  years  after 
Prior  Alexander's  death  a  terrible  storm  destroyed  this  tower 
and  the  bells,  and  caused  the  ruin  of  a  goodly  portion  of  the 
church,  immediately  after  extensive  improvements  by  Abbot 
Robert  Reed,  who  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  progres- 
sive of  all  Beauly's  clergy.  His  nephew  Walter  in  1561  alien- 
ated the  lands  of  the  abbey,  though  they  were  afterwards 
restored  to  the   Lovat  family. 

Of  the  quaint  and  curious  monuments  that  the  old  priory 
contains  within  its  crumbling  walls,  the  most  interesting  is  that 
of    Sir   Kenneth    Mackenzie,  in   a  niche    in    the    chapter  house. 


KINLOSS  — BEAULY  185 

The  effigy  of  the  knight  reclines  in  full  armour  under  a  canopy 
of  rich  sixteenth-century  design,  and  an  inscription  tells  of  his 
brave  deeds.  The  ogress  guardian  of  the  ruin  tells  how  many 
knights  were  slain  by  the  brave  Kenneth  and  how  many  great 
ladies  were  the  victims  of  his  blandishments.  This  Mackenzie 
married  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  Lords  Lovat,  and  was  the 
first  of  a  large  number  of  that  name  to  find  sepulture  within 
the  abbey's  sacred  precinct. 


CHAPTER   XII 


PLUSCARDEN 


We  find  the  majority  of  Scottish  abbeys  in 
towns  of  moderate  size,  of  which  they  are  and 
long  have  been  the  dominating  architectural 
feature.  Others  are  clustered  about  with  the 
cottages  of  small  hamlets  or  are  at  most  re- 
moved only  short  distances  from  secular  habitation  ;  and  these 
conditions  have  obtained  in  most  cases  from  the  earliest  date 
of  their  history.  A  small  number  only  seem  to  have  been 
placed  with  reference  to  complete  retirement  and  seclusion. 
This  of  course  depended  somewhat  upon  the  order  to  which  a 
monastery  belonged ;  for  the  labours  of  the  mendicant  and 
preaching  orders  differed  widely  from  those  of  the  cloistered 
brotherhoods  —  the  one  sect  souii^ht  the  habitation  of  their 
fellows,  while  the  other  removed  to  desert  fastnesses,  there  to 
subdue  the  wilderness,  to  till  their  fields,  and  pass  their  silent 
lives  secure  from   temptation. 

The  wild  wastes  north  of  the  Grampians  offered  ideal  spots 
for  the  location  of  the  more  rigidly  discipHned  monasteries  after 

1 86 


I 


PLUSCARDEN  1 87 

the  Danes  and  Orcadians  had  been  subdued  by  Alexander  the 
"Fierce."  In  1230,  the  very  year  in  which  the  priory  at 
Beauly  was  estabhshedj  another  house  of  the  same  rare  order 
was  founded  by  King  Alexander  II.,  not  many  miles  from  the 
Cistercian  abbey  of  Kinloss.  The  founders  chose  a  site  as  far 
withdrawn  from  the  world  and  its  temptations  as  could  well 
have  been  found  at  that  day,  yet  one  singularly  beautiful  and 
extremely  fruitful.  A  verdant,  peaceful  valley  some  miles  back 
from  the  coast,  secure  from  storm  and  wind,  sequestered  be- 
tween two  almost  parallel  ranges  of  heather-tinted  hills,  the 
Eildons  and  the  Kellas,  watered  by  an  ever  full,  fresh  burn, 
and  swept  around  by  magnificent  forests,  was  the  spot  chosen 
by  the  pious  brethren  for  their  new  home,  and  they  called  it 
Pluscardcn. 

It  is  quite  a  pilgrimage  to  Pluscarden.  The  abbey  is  eight 
miles  by  road  from  Elgin  and  nine  from  Forres.  The  way 
is  through  a  lovely  countryside,  and  it  is  easily  worth  more 
trouble  and  many  more  miles  of  travel  to  receive  the  lovely 
impression  of  placid  repose  and  of  dignified  beauty  that  this 
remote   and   stately   ruin   gives. 

I  was  ff>rtunate  in  haxincf  one  of  the  loveliest  of  August 
days  for  my  visit,  and  August  can  be  wondrous  fair  in  the 
'  nortn  countrec,"  A  true  ])ilgrimage  it  was  too,  for  I  was  not 
so  fortunate  in  niy  (  hoice  of  a  date.  Arriving  at  Elgin  early 
in   the   morning,   I    discovered    that    it    was   the   chief    holiday  of 


iSS  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

that  town.  The  people  seemed  to  be  having  a  general  jubilee, 
and  it  was  quite  impossible  for  me  to  find  any  sort  of  a  trap 
to  carry  me  over  the  eight  miles  (so  called  —  I  think  they  are 
ten)  that  lay  between  me  and  the  object  of  my  quest.  There- 
fore having  made  fruitless  search  for  a  beast  that  I  could  hire 
or  borrow,  I  set  out  on  foot  with  staff  in  hand  and  sketching 
block  under  arm,  while  crowded  carts  and  four-wheeled  vehi- 
cles full  of  holiday  makers  rumbled  past  me  by  the  score. 

For  several  miles  I  kept  the  highroad,  then  by  the  advice 
of  a  returning  pilgrim  I  took  the  old  road  through  the  forest, 
in  all  probability  the  same  that  the  monks  used  hundreds  of 
years  ago ;  the  path,  impassable  now  for  any  vehicle,  leads 
along  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  which  rises  steep  and  rugged 
on  the  right.  Grand  trees  meet  overhead  and  tall,  sweet- 
smelling  ferns,  waist  high,  wave  on  either  side.  In  the  bright- 
ness of  early  morning  this  path  is  dark  with  heavy  shade  and 
so  still  that  one's  own  footfall  seems  to  have  an  unhallowed 
sound.  How  meet  a  preparation  for  the  mind  of  the  pilgrim, 
in  the  days  of  old  on  penitential  errand  bent;  how  calm  and 
sweet  a  prelude  for  us  to  the  view  that  presently  opens  to  us ! 

The  path  merges  from  the  wood  at  a  little  height  above  a 
level  stretch  of  soft,  green,  waving  grain,  beyond  which,  em- 
bowered in  a  cluster  of  glorious  foliage,  set  high  on  an  isolated 
knoll,  rises  the  unbroken  tower  of  the  abbey,  girt  about  with 
a  high  enclosing  wall  that  marked  the  precinct  of  the  monastery. 


PLUSCARDEN 


189 


On  approaching  the  abbey,  which  must  be  done  by  a  single 
gate  near  the  lodge,  we  find  it  in  the  midst  of  a  well-kept  lawn 


"^,»'»' 


t: 


PI.USCAKIir.N    AI!I!KV,    l-Ki  >M     IIIK    \Vi«l|). 


with  closely  trimmed  shrubs  and  yew  trees.  To  the  west  lies 
a  fragrant  flower  gaidcii  \\\\\\  gravel  walks  and  long  hedge- 
nnvs  of  box,  aiul  bcvond  this  a  fiaiit  orchaid  stretches  as  far 
as    the     boundary    wall.        iliis     air     of     llirift    and     comfort    is 


190 


SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 


quite    a    change  after  our  lonely  walk  through  the   wild  forest, 
and  indicates  that  the  ruin  is  part  of  a  large  and  well-kept  estate. 

One  is  at  once  impressed  with  the  remarkable  state  of 
preservation  in  which  the  abbey  stands.  The  walls  of  choir 
and  transept  are  intact,  though  roofless.     Above  them  looms  the 


c 

r 

5 

c 

: 

c 

'- 

c 

r 

1 

2 

PLAN   OF  PLUSCARDEN   ABBEY. 


A.  Choir. 

B  Crossing  below  Tower. 

C.  C.    Transept. 

D.  Sacristy. 

r  I    J     r^u       1   )     Abbot's  Parlour 

E.  Lady  ChapeL  (  ^^^ 

F.  Chapels.  (  Confessional  above. 

G.  Chapter  House.       ) 

H.  Slype.  >  Dormitories  above. 

K  Refectory.  ) 

M.  Cloister  Court. 

X.  Lines  Nave  would  have  taken. 

p.  Doorway  to  Cloister. 

r.  Stair  to  Dormitories. 

s.  Screen,  of  later  work. 


massive  square  tower  of  the  crossing.  The  nave  seems  never 
to  have  been  built,  but  to  the  south  stretches  a  long  line  of 
monastic  buildings,  much  restored,  it  is  true,  but  never  having 
been  seriously  injured.  A  sacristy,  chapter  house,  and  fratry, 
with  a  story  of  other  apartments  above  them,  complete  the  line 


iia-irv.-i!;S'V'i^SjA-l 


c*?^-  V  Xl' 


•t'-'-A?/itV 


f 


3 


as 
O 

W 


o 


< 

s 


-^^/^v^•i•: 


192  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 

of  the  eastern  side  of  the  spacious  cloister  court.  We  observe 
that  tlie  greater  part  of  these  buildings,  as  well  as  the  church, 
are  of  prettv  nearly  the  same  epoch.  The  dignified  lines  of 
the  early  pointed  style  are  seen  throughout  the  structures.  We 
enter  first  at  the  crossing  and  find  a  broad  transept,  with  an 
eastern  aisle  of  two  bays,  to  right  and  left.  The  piers  and 
arches  are  plainly  of  early  pointed  design,  though  somewhat 
disfigured  by  the  action  of  fire.  In  the  southern  part  of  the 
transept  a  curious  combination  of  triforium  and  clerestory  runs 
above  the  main  story,  an  arcaded  passage  which  at  intervals 
is  carried  up  to  include  the  clerestory  windows.  At  the  north 
end  of  the  transept  the  three  stories  are  marked  by  two  tiers  of 
narrow  lancet-pointed  windows  and  a  large  circular  opening;  now 
walled  up  in  the  gable.  On  the  ground  story  a  low  pointed 
doorway  opens  from  the  transept.  The  transept,  taken  from 
end  to  end,  shows  two  different  types  of  pointed  openings, 
those  in  the  north  being  usually  cusped  and  single,  the  others 
plain  and  grouped  in  triplets  by  a  broad,  pointed,  segmental 
arch ;  the  latter  seeming  to  be  the  earlier  form  and  rather 
more  like   Early   English  design. 

In  the  choir  we  find  a  considerably  later  looking  form  of 
pointed  style.  It  is  noticeable,  at  once,  that  a  departure  has 
been  made  from  the  original  design ;  the  plan  is  that  of  an 
aisleless  sanctuary  of  three  bays.  And  while  the  transept  was 
apj^arently    not    built    to    be    vaulted,   we    find    in   this   part  the 


PLUSCARDEN 


193 


,4',- 


very  evident  signs  of  vault  structure.  The  original  structure 
was  extremely  light,  the  window  openings  being  very  broad  and 
the  spaces  between 
very  narrow.  These 
large  openings  were 
subsequently  made 
smaller  by  the  in- 
sertion of  thin  walls 
at  either  side  and 
a  lower  arch  below 
the  original. 

U  nmistakable 
joints  of  tracery  are 
visible  in  the  mould- 
ings at  the  sides  of 
the  great  windows, 
but  over  the  tran- 
sept aisle  roof  on 
the  southern  side  of 
the  choir,  where  the 
window  was  cut  off 
just  below  the  arcli 
by  the  roof  and  aj)j)ears  in  the  form  of  an  e(|iiihil.cral  triangle, 
the  whole  expanse  of  the  originrd  tracericd  winrlow  is  jircserved 
with    a    fine    trefoil    pattern.     The    opposite    triangular    opening 


IlIK   CROSSINC,    KROM    STAIR     lo    DORMITORIES. 
J'oiiif  2  on    /'liiii. 


194  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED  ABBEYS 

has  been  closed.  At  the  east  end  tlic  broad,  high  window  was 
differently  treated  by  filling  in  with  a  curtain  wall  pierced  by 
a  row  of  five  lancets  below  a  small  traceried  window.  In  the 
gable  above  appears  the  vesica  pescis,  still  perfectly  preserved ; 
and  still  higher  a  trefoil  enclosed  in  a  triangle. 

The  tracery  of  all  these  altered  windows  is  exceedingly 
weak  in  design  and  the  mullions  are  flatly  moulded,  so  that 
one  does  not  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  assign  them  to  a  poor 
and  late  period  of  northern  Gothic. 

The  exterior  of  the  transept  shows  the  same  strong  charac- 
teristics as  the  interior  and  the  same  slight  difference  in  style. 
Of  the  choir  the  shallow  buttresses  attract  notice  when  we  con- 
sider that  this  portion  was  vaulted,  or  at  least  intended  to  be, 
and  the  strengthening  of  the  walls  by  narrowing  the  windows 
is  perhaps  explained  in  this  way. 

In  the  southern  arm  of  the  transept  a  straight  stair  leads 
to  the  upper  apartments  of  the  adjacent  buildings,  where  were 
doubtless  the  dormitories,  libraries,  and  the  like.  From  the  aisle 
leads  a  doorway  to  the  Lady  Chapel  or  St.  Mary's  aisle,  vaulted, 
like  the  aisle  of  the  transept,  in  early  pointed  manner.  Next 
comes  the  slype,  or  passage  connecting  the  cloister  garth  with 
the  grounds  to  the  east  of  the  abbey.  This  is  vaulted  in  two 
compartments  in  a  style  which  at  once  may  be  classed  as  later 
than  those  of  the  chapels  and  transept  aisle.  To  the  same 
period  belongs  the  vaulting  of  the  chapter  house,  a  fine  example 


PLUSCARDEN  1 95 

of  this  class  of  structure,  vaulted  in  four  compartments  sup- 
ported at  the  walls  on  brackets  and  in  the  centre  by  a  group 
of  slender  shafts.  The  mouldings  of  the  door  and  windows  in 
the  cloister  side  of  this  structure  are  earlier  than  the  vaults 
and  central  support,  which  must  have  been  restored  at  a  later 
period.  The  windows  in  the  opposite  side  have  been  restored 
recently  to  match  some  of  the  grouped  lancets  of  the  earlier 
portions.  Adjoining  the  chapter  house  is  the  refectory  or  fratry, 
which  shows  signs  in  its  vault  ribs  and  octagonal  piers  of  being 
later  than  its  neighbour.  Here  we  have  six  vault  compartments, 
necessitating  two  free-standing  supports  of  the  form  just  men- 
tioned, into  which  the  chamfered  mouldings  of  the  vault  ribs 
disappear.  The  windows  here,  too,  are  of  later  addition  and 
are  not  nearly  so  broad  as  the  originals  appear  to  have  been ; 
for  the  brethren  of  this  northern  clime  wished  as  much  sun- 
light as  possible  in   their  hall,  while  it  lasted. 

Over  the  sacristy  is  a  small  apartment  called  the  abbot's 
parlour,  with  its  little  window  looking  to  the  east,  and  opening 
off  from  it  a  tiny  vaulted  cell,  dimly  lighted  by  a  mere  slit 
opening.  The  remainder  of  the  second  story  was  probably  un- 
divided by  walls  and  roofed  with  timbers,  and  constituted  the 
dormitory  of  the   monastery. 

We  may  now  glance  at  the  history  of  the  abbey  so  far  as 
it  is  known,  and  comi)are  the  epochs  of  its  life  with  the  periods 


196 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


of  architecture  represented  in  its  frame.  The  establishment 
was  founded,  as  we  have  seen,  by  Alexander  II.,  who  intro- 
duced the  Franciscan,  Dominican,  and  other  new  foreign  orders 
into  Scotland,  about  1230.  Immediately  following  the  found- 
ing  of    the    transept    with    its    vaulted    aisle,    the    sacristy    and 

the  tower  were  built. 
To  this  period  belongs 
also      the      charming 


round-arched  doorway 
between  the  nave  and 
cloister  and  a  portion 
of  the  chapter  house, 
which  makes  it  pretty 
certain  that  the  domes- 
tic buildino^s  at  least 
were  completed  during 
this  first  period,  from, 
say,  1230  to  1260. 

If   any    choir    had 
been  built  durina:  this 


DOORWAY  TO  CLOISTER.     Point  4  on  Plan. 


period,  it  was  totally  swept  away  when  the  domestic  buildings 
and  the  roofs  of  the  church  w^ere  burned  by  the  "  Wolf  of 
Badenoch "  in  1390.  It  was  in  this  year  that  the  whole  of 
Moray  was  devastated  by  a  Ixmd  of  terrible  marauders  led  by 
Alexander  Stuart,  son  of   Robert   II.,  with  the  title   of   Earl  of 


PLUSCARDEN  1 97 

Buchan.  The  town  of  Elgin  was  burned,  the  fields  for  miles 
around  were  laid  waste,  and  religious  institutions  in  all  direc- 
tions were  devastated,  their  inmates  often  being  put  to  the 
sword  or  consumed  in  the  flames  of  their  churches. 

During  eight  years  the  abbey  stood  in  partial  ruin ;  for  it 
was  not  until  1398  that  one  Alexander,  a  man  of  some  wealth 
and  wide  influence,  was  elected  to  the  priors  chair  at  Pluscar- 
den,  with  the  hope  and  expectation  that  he  would  place  the 
"house"  once  more  upon  its  feet.  As  was  confidently  expected, 
a  new  era  of  prosperity  began  for  the  abbey  under  the  rule  of 
Prior  Alexander,  and  during  the  early  years  of  the  fourteenth 
century  the  settlement  in  the  vale  of  Blackwater  flourished 
with  unprecedented  success.  Since  the  original  founding  of 
the  monastery  many  changes  had  taken  place  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  pointed  style,  and  these  we  see  embodied  in  the 
extensive  building  operations  carried  out  by  the  new  superior. 
The  choir  was  at  once  rebuilt  in  a  style  far  lighter  and  more 
airy  than  the  earlier  pointed;  light  vaults  of  wide  span  were 
planned  for  the  choir  and  the  crossing.  The  windows  of  the 
new  portion,  high  and  broad,  were  furnished  with  delicate  designs 
of  graceful  tracery.  The  great  expanse  of  glass  which  flooded 
the  sanctuary  with  a  bla/.e  of  hght  must  have  made  the  nc-w 
])()rtion  seem  more  like  a   hi'ench  edifice  than  one  on   i)ritish  soil. 

The  chaj)ter  house  and  the  frater-hall  were  restored  in  lurn, 
on    the    old    lines,    in    all    probability,    but    in    a    style  advanced 


1 98  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

perhaps  a  little  beyond  its  prime.  The  dormitories  were  fitted 
up  for  a  large  number  of  resident  monks,  and  apartments  pro- 
vided for  strangers  and  wayfarers. 

For  himself  the  prior  built  the  little  parlour,  referred  to 
above,  with  its  little  cell  or  confessional,  and  from  this  apart- 
ment made  an  entrance  to  the  roof  of  the  transept  aisle,  which 
was  made  flat  and  provided  with  a  balustrade  like  a  balcony,  —  a 
cool  and  restful  retreat  in  summer  evenings  after  the  arduous 
duties  of  the  day. 

The  great  square  tower  above  the  crossing,  which  extended 
but  little  above  the  ridges  of  the  adjoining  roofs,  was  provided 
with  a  crenellated  battlement  and  trefoil  windows  on  either 
side  of  the  gables. 

The  broad  lands  of  the  abbey,  which  during  the  past  years 
had  fallen  to  neglect,  were  now  tilled  with  the  utmost  skill. 
The  vine,  brought  from  the  vineyards  of  Burgundy  by  the  new 
brothers,  was  taught  to  grow  upon  the  southern  slopes  of  the 
Eildons.  With  plenty  of  fish  from  the  burn,  with  bread  and 
fruit  from  their  vast  fields  and  orchards,  with  wine  vinted  in 
the  Burgundian  fashion,  the  White  Friars  of  Pluscarden  had 
little  to  complain  of  in  their  peaceful  valley  in  Moray.  But 
their  life  became  at  last  too  sweet  —  idleness  and  plenty  com- 
bined prepared  the  ground  for  tares,  and  within  forty  years 
after  the  death  of  Prior  Alexander  disorders  were  rife  among 
the  wearers  of  the  white  cowl. 


PLUSCARDEN  1 99 

The  right  of  inspection  of  the  abbey  had  been  accorded  to 
the  Bishop  of  Moray  in  1355.  Reports  of  irregularities  in  this 
secluded  spot  at  length  reached  the  ears  of  the  powerful 
churchman,  and  he  soon  found  opportunity  to  execute  his 
privilege.  After  searching  investigation  had  been  made,  the 
abbey  was  taken  away  from  the  order  of  Valliscaulium  and 
turned  over  to  the  great  monastery  of  Dunfermline,  to  become 
a  cell  of  that  greatest  of  Benedictine  houses  in  the  North.  The 
sacristan  of  Dunfermline,  John  de  Boys  by  name,  was  appointed 
prior  of  Pluscarden  in  1460,  and  with  a  chapter  of  Black 
Friars  installed  in  the  abbey  a  new  order  of  things  was 
instituted  at  Pluscarden. 

The  new  prior  seems  to  have  found  the  church  already  in 
need  of  repair;  either  neglect  in  recent  years  or  bad  design  in 
Alexander's  time  had  begun  to  tell  upon  the  abbey,  and  the 
vaults  of  choir  and  crossing  were  threatening  a  fall.  Work 
was  at  once  besjun  to  recnforce  the  walls  of  the  choir,  and  the 
windows  were  reduced  to  the  form  and  size  now  seen  in  a  style 
characteristic  of  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  in  Scotland 
of  the  North,  seen  in  the  later  portions  of  Elgin  Cathedral  and 
elsewhere.  A  heavy  narrow  arch  was  built  uj)  beneath  the 
broad  jjointed  ai<  li  tlial  stij^ports  the  eastern  side  of  the  tower 
separating  the  crossing  from  the  choir,  and  tlu-  aiches  of  the 
transept  aisle  were  walled  up  so  that  the  choir  was  made  much 
darker  and  more  shut  in.       The    above    theory  for   diminishing 


200  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

all  the  openings  of  the  choir  is  that  advanced  by  McGibbon 
and  Ross,  but  another  seems  to  me  quite  as  tenable ;  it  is  that 
the  Benedictines  preferred  greater  seclusion  and  less  light  and 
therefore  reduced  the  size  of  -their  windows ;  that  their  degrees 
of  sanctity  made  a  separation  of  worshippers  necessary  in  a 
service,  so  that  the  thick  wall  and  narrow  arch  beneath  the 
east  side  of  the  tower  were  more  on  the  order  of  a  screen 
than  a  support.  And  this  seems  all  the  more  credible  when 
we  consider  that  the  other  arches  of  the  tower  did  not  seem 
to  require  a  prop. 

This  is  the  only  one  of  the  ruined  abbeys  of  Scotland  which 
preserves  specimens  of  the  painted  decoration  that  must  have 
enlivened  the  sombre  walls  of  all  of  them  to  some  degree. 
These  traces  of  colour  are  plainly  visible  on  the  soffit  of  the 
low  arch  between  choir  and  transept,  and  in  the   Lady  Chapel. 

Cordiner,  who  wrote  after  seeing  these  bits  of  painting  over 
one  hundred  years  ago,  describes  the  scene  on  the  arch,  which 
is  now  visible  only  as  a  blue  ground  with  gilt  stars  and  some 
architectural  features,  as  a  representation  of  St.  John  with  his 
eagle  amid  the  conclave  of  heavenly  bodies,  while  in  the  Lady 
Chapel  he  saw  a  variety  of  Scriptural  scenes  depicted  on  the 
vault  and   walls. 

For  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  the  abbey  and  its  monks 
seem  to  have  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  their  way.  The  last 
prior   of    the    new    order   was    Alexander    Dunbar,  who   left   his 


PLUSCARDEN  20 1 

work  upon  the  abbey  building  in  the  little  vaulted  vestry  to 
the  north  of  the  choir,  which  is  generally  attributed  to  his  time. 
It  is  in  the  late  pre-Reformation  style  of  Gothic,  and  exceedingly 
ill  placed,  extending  as  it  does  directly  in  front  of  one  of  the 
aisle  windows  of  the  transept  and  darkening  that  portion  of 
the  church.  A  ruined  spiral  stair  would  seem  to  have  led  to 
the  roof  of  this  structure.  When  the  Reformation  burst  upon 
Scotland,  the  abbey  of  Pluscarden  seems  to  have  escaped  notice ; 
for  the  inmates  were  allowed  to  die  off  within  its  walls  until 
after  1586,  when  one  monk  was  still  alive.  The  priory  at 
length  came  into  the  possession  of  the  noble  house  of  Fife,  and 
it  is  to  the  dowager  countess,  we  understand,  that  the  careful 
restorations  upon  the  domestic  buildings  are  due. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

KILWINNING 

The  western  coast  of  Scotland,  though  nearest  to  the  early 
fountain  head  of  Scottish  Christianity  at  lona,  was  not  the 
scene  of  so  many  nor  so  early  religious  settlements  as  the  east- 
ern and  northern  shores  or  the  southern  borderlands.  The 
Highlands  of  the  west  were,  in  the  earlier  days,  quite  untamed 
and  very  thinly  settled,  nor  did  these  rugged  mountain  sides 
offer  the  attractive  sites  for  cloistered  homes  that  were  to  be 
found  in  the  rich  valleys  of  Lothian  and  Moray.  At  a  very 
early  period,  hermit  monks  from  the  Columban  isle  had  fixed 
their  cells  among  the  mountain  fastnesses  which  stretched 
from  the  Kyles  of  Bute  to  the  Minch,  and,  through  their 
labours,  the  Highland  chiefs  had  become  Christian,  by  profes- 
sion, at  least,  though  not  always  in  practice,  it  might  be  added. 
By  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  chapels,  erected  within 
the  castles  of  the  greater  chieftains,  began  to  be  quite  common, 
and  we  find  such  architectural  evidence  of  religious  life  among 
the  Highlanders  in  the  chapels  of  the  castles  of  Dunstaffnage 
and    Rothesay.     But  to    the    south  of    the    Frith  of    Clyde    less 

202 


KILWINNING  203 

forbiddins:  natural  conditions  and  more  favourable  surroundincrs 
invited  the  early  establishment  of  conventual  institutions,  and 
at  Paisley,  Kilwinning,  and  Crosraguel  we  find  ample  remains 
of  the  monastic  life  that  flourished  in  Ayrshire  from  the  later 
Middle  Ages  until  the  Reformation.  The  planting  of  these 
religious  houses  along  the  southwestern  coast  was  due  in  part 
to  the  missionary  preparation  of  the  Ayrshire  soil  by  Columban 
monks  and    in  part   to  direct   Irish  influence. 

It  was  in  the  first  decades  of  the  eighth  century,  so  reli- 
gious tradition  says,  that  St.  Vinan,  Vinnen,  or  Winnen  estab- 
lished a  cell  on  the  banks  of  the  Garnock.  He  was,  doubtless, 
identical  with  St.  Finnan  of  Moville,  an  historical  Irish  saint 
who  set  out  to  sow  the  seeds  of  Christianity  in  Caledonia.  The 
site  of  his  cell  was  held  sacred  and  was,  doubtless,  the  resi- 
dence of  one  or  more  missionary  monks  for  some  four  hundred 
years,  until  it  was  further  sanctified  by  the  founding  of  a  great 
monastery  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  twelfth  century. 

There  seems  to  be  much  doubt,  and  there  certainly  has 
been  a  great  deal  of  controversy,  as  to  the  founder  of  the 
abbey  of  Kilwinning;  and  the  exact  date  of  its  founding  is 
also  obscure. 

The  crux  seems  to  be  not  only  between  two  historical  pcv- 
sonages,  but  between  two  distinct  individualities  which  may 
be  im])uted  to  citlKr.  One  bi-licf  is  that  Hugh  de  Morville, 
Lord   Constable   of    Scotland,  who   founded    tlic    abbey  of    Dry- 


204  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 

burgh  in  1150,  was  also  founder  of  the  abbey  of  Kilwinning. 
A  second  statement  is,  that  not  Hugh,  but  Richard  de  Mor- 
ville,  son  or  grandson  of  the  Lord  Constable,  inheriting  the 
pious  predilections  of  his  forbear,  was  founder  and  patron  of 
this  reli2:ious  centre  in  the  West. 

Pont  agrees  with  neither  of  these  views,  and  advances  the 
startling  theory  that  the  founder  of  the  abbey,  bearing  the 
name  of  IMorwell,  was  neither  the  Constable  Hugh,  nor  his 
descendant  Richard,  if  such  there  was,  but  another  Richard, 
who  was  no  less  than  one  of  the  murderers  of  Thomas  a 
Becket,  the  saint  of  Canterbury.  Pont  goes  on  to  say  that 
this  man,  escaping  from  England,  was  received  by  the  Scottish 
king  and  invested  by  him  with  lands  and  honours;  he  further 
adds  that  he  himself  saw  the  grave  of  the  founder  in  the  abbey 
when  he  visited  it  in   1608. 

Now,  to  begin  with  the  last  theory,  it  seems  scarcely  credi- 
ble that  the  king,  William  I.,  who  is  known  to  have  loved 
the  sainted  Thomas  so  well  as  to  have  dedicated  a  great  mon- 
astery to  his  memory  in  11 74,  could  have  conferred  gifts  and 
honours  upon  his  assassin  a  few  years  before.  This  Morwell, 
Pont  says,  was  made  Constable  of  Scotland,  and  was  buried  in 
Kilwinning.  But  we  know  from  the  Melrose  Chronicle  that 
Hugh  de  Morville,  Constable  of  Scotland,  was  buried  in  the 
chapter  house  of  Dryburgh  in  1162,  where  a  double  circle  in 
the    floor    marks    his    resting-place.      There    is   evidently   some 


KILWINNING  205 

confusion  here  on  the  part  of  Pont ;  for  it  would  take  a  great 
amount  of  faith  to  estabHsh  the  historical  entity  of  two  con- 
stables of  the  Kingdom  of  the  same  name  but  not  related. 
If  Pont  really  saw  the  name  of  Richard  de  Morwell  upon  the 
founder's  slab  at  Kilwinning,  it  was,  of  course,  not  the  founder 
of  Dryburgh  who  was  patron  of  St.  Vinnen's,  though  as  far 
as  dates  are  concerned,  it  would  not  have  been  difficult  for  the 
same  man  to  have  founded  both  abbeys.  But  taking  into 
account  a  probable  difference  in  date  of  twenty  years,  the  sen- 
timents of  the  reigning  monarch  toward  St.  Thomas  and  the 
evidence  adduced  to  show  that  a  Richard  and  not  a  Huoh 
was  instrumental  in  the  establishing  of  this  abbey,  it  seems 
impartial  to  assign  the  disputed  honour  to  a  scion  of  the 
house  of  Morville  and  not  to  the  sancticide.  Pont,  who  saw 
what  no  other  writer  ever  saw,  —  the  chartulary  of  the  abbey, 
—  also  insists  tliat  it  was  founded  in  1191,  but,  on  the  authority 
of  the  Melrose  Chronicle  again,  we  learn  that  Sir  Richard 
Morville,  son  of  .Sir  Hugh,  died  in  the  year  11S9.  Besides 
this,  the  nKjiuimental  evidence  woukl  show  that  the  abbey  was 
at  least  partly  built  as  early  as  the  building  of  Arbi-oath  abbey, 
wliich   was  dedicated   in    i  1 7S. 

The  oldest  jjorlions  of  the  few  fragments  (IkiI  we  have  of 
this  once  very  extensive  abbey  su|)i)oil  the  assumption  that 
the  ancient  cell  of  St.  \^'nnen  was  not  replaced  by  a  great 
monastery  nut II    towmd    the   (  lose  of   the   twelfth   centiu'y,  though 


2o6 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


they  prove  almost  conclusively  that  the  thirteenth  had  not  yet 
dawned  when  building  operations  were  commenced  here.  The 
pointed  style  enveloped  in  Norman  traditions,  represented  in 
remnants  here,  is  the  sign  of  transitional  supremacy  at  the 
time  of  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone.  The  Early  English  in 
its  first  Scottish  form  seems  to  have  characterized  the  main  por- 
tions of  the  church  edifice,  while  a  still  later  return  to  Norman 
proportions  and  outlines  treated  with  fine  Gothic  details,  assigns 
the  portions  that  we  have  of  the  domestic  buildings  to  the  end 

of    the    thirteenth    or    the    begin- 
ning of  the  fourteenth  century. 


tr 


|i  c 


o 
o 


The  plan  of  the   abbey  as  we 
have  it  to-day,  derived  from  exist- 
ing remains  above  ground  and  the 
excavations    of    the    distinguished 
architect,  Mr,  Galloway,  shows  the 
monastery  to  have  included  a  large 
cruciform    church,  with    two   mas- 
sive towers  at  the  western  end  and 
perhaps  another  at  the  crossing,  a 
cloister  as  usual  to  the  south,  reached  directly  from  the  church, 
and  surrounded  by  a  range  of  domestic  buildings  in  two  stories. 
Of  so  extensive  a  group  there  remains  to  be  seen  only  the 
towering    end  wall  of    the  south   transept   in    three  stories,  and, 


I — J.- 


H 


1* 


A.   Nave. 
It.    Clioir. 
C.  C.    Transepts. 
*•  J).    CliapKr  Iloiue. 
I         E.    Slypt. 
I         F.    Cloinur. 
G.    Doorway. 
II.    IU>inainii  of   one  of 
tlic  Towcra. 


PLAN    OF  THE   ABBEY    OF    KILWINNING. 


KILWINNING  207 

connected  with  it,  a  single  arch  of  the  transept  aisle,  a  portion 
of  the  south  wall  of  the  nave,  preserving  the  doorway  which 
led  to  the  cloisters,  and  corbels  from  which  sprang  the  aisle 
vaults.  At  the  west  end  of  the  south  aisle  we  have  the  two 
heavy  piers  that  supported  the  eastern  side  of  the  tower 
extending  up  two  stories,  with  the  first  transverse  arch  of 
the  aisle ;  and  besides  these  a  portion  of  the  east  wall  of  the 
cloister  court,  embracing  the  entrance  to  the  slype  and  a  door- 
way between  two  windows  of  the  chapter  house ;  back  of  this 
we  find,  almost  buried  in  debris,  the  wall  between  the  slype 
and  the  chapter  house  and  a  section  of  the  opposite  wall  of 
the  latter;  within  the  slype  we  are  able  to  find  remnants  of  a 
well-built  barrel  vault  and  a  seat  running  along  the  northern 
wall.  The  rest  of  the  cloister  is  built  up  with  modern  houses 
of  the  })oorer  class,  in  the  lower  stories  of  which  have  been 
found  walls  and  vaults  that  belone^ed  to  the  domestic  buildinsrs 
that  lined  the  church  side  of  the  i/arth. 

The  oldest  of  the  fragments  thus  jireserved  seems  to  be  the 
doorway  from  the  south  aisle  of  the  church  to  the  cloister.  It 
is  a  beautiful  example  of  a  pointed  portal  enriched  with  mould- 
ings of  lingering  Romanesque  design.  llic  thicc  nook  shafts, 
on  either  side,  had  bases  and  caps  of  unmistakably  early 
design,  which  are  still  ///  situ,  although  the  shafts  are  gone. 
Their  abaci  are  rectangular  and  luoMldtd  in  the  st)le  of  the 
transition,    and     the    rich    set    of    deep    mouldings    above    them 


!0S 


SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 


shows  a  mixture  of  purely  Norman  and  early  pointed  pattern; 
tlie  label  which  completes  the  set  is  a  fine  specimen  of  dog- 
tooth work.  The  in- 
most moulding  is 
carried  down  along 
the  jambs  of  the 
doorway.  Within  the 
church,  or  where 
the  church  was,  the 
doorway  has  been  re- 
constructed in  plain 
ashlar.  To  the  same 
period  may  be  said 
to  belong  the  aisle 
wall,  which,  by  its 
corbels,  shows  the 
number  of  the  bays 
to  have  been  seven. 
The  next  period,  the  pure  early  pointed,  claims  the  lower 
portion  of  the  southwestern  tower  and  transept.  This  great 
pier,  consisting  on  its  western  side  of  a  group  of  shafts  carried 
up  two  stories,  preserving  on  its  eastern  side  the  engaged 
shafts  of  the  main  arcade  and  the  colonettes  and  arch  spring 
of  the  triforium,  connected  with  the  aisle  wall  by  a  single 
pointed    arch,    is    a    splendid    specimen    of    first    pointed    work, 


DoDRWAY  TO  CLOISTER.     From  Point  i  on   Plan. 


KILWINNING  209 

both  in  design  and  workmanship,  and  shows  the  western 
towers  (if  they  were  alike)  to  have  been  open  on  the  ground 
story,  to  the  east  and  north,  and  thus  to  have  embraced  the 
first  bay  of  either  aisle.  With  this  lonely  remnant  at  the  west 
end  of  the  church  may  be  studied  the  one  surviving  pier,  arch, 
and  respond  at  the  south  end  of  the  transept.  Here  we  find 
the  same  fine  clusters  of  columns  and  a  similar  bold  set  of 
arch  mouldings,  adorned  with  the  same  delicate  dog-tooth  and 
nail-head  patterns  that  are  seen  in  the  south  doorway.  From 
the  compound  cap  of  the  pier,  with  a  base  upon  its  abacus, 
rise  a  group  of  slender  shafts,  that  could  not  have  been  meant 
for  vault  support,  as  further  evidence  shows  the  high  parts  of 
the  abbey  to  have  been  unvaulted,  but  which,  like  those  at 
Dryburgh,  doubtless  were  carried  up  to  form  an  apjDarent 
footing  for  the  roof  timbers.  Above  this  bit  of  main  arcade, 
adjoining  the  south  wall,  the  ruined  masonry  preserves  a  por- 
tion of  triforium  arcade  with  dog-tooth  ornament,  and  above 
this  a  segment  of  a  circular,  cusped  opening,  enclosed  in  a 
rectangular  frame,  not  unlike  a  feature  in  the  transei)t  of  Dry- 
burgh, but  above  the  triforium  instead  of  below  it.  Judging 
from  tlie  slope  of  the  gable,  it  is  evident  that  a  clerestory  of 
some  height  was  super)X)sed  upon  this  triforium,  l)ilnging  the 
interior  to  a  really  lofty  height,  si)cakiiig  in  terms  of  either 
English  or  even   I'^arly   I'^'cndi   Ciothic   nicliilerture. 

This    remarkable    height    involved    no    difficult    problems    of 


2IO 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


construction,  as  the  central  roof  was  of  wood,  but  is  interesting 
in  tliis  locality.  In  the  south  wall  of  the  single  extant  bay  of 
the    aisle    is    a   pointed    window   with    excellent    mouldings    and 


r^vf  nil 


,1  >, 


END  OF  SOUTH  TRANSEPT.     From  Point  2  on  Plan. 

label,  which  were  once  supported  on  either  side  by  nook  shafts 
within  and  without.  This  doubtless  gives  a  clew  to  the  form 
of  the  windows  throughout  the  ground  story  of  the  church. 


KILWINNING  211 

The  transept  end  is  a  splendid  specimen  of  majestic  early- 
pointed  style,  rising  unbroken  in  three  stories  to  a  pinnacle  at 
the  summit  of  the  gable  some  ninety  feet  above  the  original 
level  of  the  church.  The  ground  story  consists  of  a  perfectly 
unbroken  wall,  but  above  this  the  entire  expanse  of  the  tran- 
sept is  filled  by  a  splendid  group  of  three  tall,  pointed  win- 
dows, the  central  opening  being  a  little  taller  than  the  others. 
Their  heavy  mouldings  were  supported  by  long,  slender  shafts 
that  rose  from  bases  set  upon  the  triforium  ledge.  The  nar- 
row masses  of  wall  that  divide  these  windows  are  pierced 
transversely  by  the  triforium  passage,  which  engirdled  the 
entire  church  at  that  level.  Above  this  group  a  large  wheel 
window  pierces  the  wall,  between  two  sets  of  coupled  arches 
which  open  upon  the  clerestory  passage,  but  do  not  break  the 
outer  wall.  The  wall  of  the  gable  is  of  but  one  thickness,  so 
that  a  set-off  is  visible  above  the  wheel  window,  and  is  pierced 
by  a  single  narrow,  pointed  window. 

The  western  angle  of  this  transept  wall  bears  unmistakable 
traces  of  a  spiral  stair  which  led  from  the  transept  to  a  door- 
way opening  upon  the  second  story  of  the  domestic  1)uikHngs, 
and  was  then  carried  up  to  the  clerestory  passage.  On  the 
exterior  the  wall  and  gable  show  a  flat  surface  flanked  by  nar- 
row buttresses  and  jtierced  with  the  j)ointed  and  circular  open- 
inir  above  and  the  three  larqie  windows  below  relieved  by  a 
continuous  label  moulding.     The  lower  portion   of  two  of  these 


212  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

windows  is  partly  walled  up  where  the  lines  of  a  water  table 
show  the  former  presence  of  the  steep  roof  of  the  adjoining 
buildino-s. 

Of  the  domestic  buildings  there  is  not  much  to  be  said. 
The  round-arched  doors  and  windows  are  })rovided  with  heavy 
rounded  mouldings  on  the  outside  of  the  arch  and  jambs.  In 
the  case  of  the  doors  a  narrow  horizontal  moulding  is  carried 
around  the  arch  moulds  in  uninteresting  fashion.  Of  these 
openings  only  the  door  of  the  chapter  house  boasts  of  mould- 
ings on  the  interior,  the  others  being  perfectly  plain  arches 
eloquent  of  late  construction.  The  windows,  which  were  of 
course  always  open,  are  provided  with  double  round-arched 
plates  from  which  the  supporting  central  colonettes  have 
disappeared. 

The  little  that  remains  here  cannot  be  considered  as  part  of 
the  original  monastic  habitation ;  its  rough  masonry  faced  with 
a  thin  coating  of  ashlar,  its  poverty  in  design,  and  narrow  com- 
pass, all  indicate  the  probability  of  its  being  a  reconstruction 
after  the  troublous  time  of  the  war  of  independence,  when  the 
abbey  was  poor  and  the  monks  few.  It  is,  to  say  the  least, 
hardly  in  keeping  with  the  dignity  of  style  and  magnificence 
of  scale  indicated  of  the  church  edifice. 

A  splendid  site  it  was  that  the  abbey  had,  on  level  ground 
rising  slightly  above  the  Garnock,  and  a  glorious  outlook  with 


KILWINNING  2 1 3 

a  flat  stretch  of  sand  spreading  to  the  west  far  out  toward  the 
Frith  of  Clyde. 

"  A  plain  below  stretched  seaward  while,  descried 
Above  sea  clouds,  the  peaks  of  Arran  rose ; 
And  by  that  simple  notice  the  repose 
Of  earth,  sky,  sea,  and  air  was  vivified." 

From  the  midst  of  the  gleaming  sea  to  the  south  the  mighty 
cone  of  Ailsa  Craig  lifts  high  its  grizzly  head,  and  across  the 
water,  where  the  sun  sinks  into  the  ocean,  loom  the  purple 
masses  of  Goatfell,  the  mountains  of  Arran  and  Kintyre.  To 
the  east  roll  the  soft  and  shadowy  hills  of  Tinto,  with  rich 
fields  and  pastures  between.  Alone  in  its  grandeur  for  hun- 
dreds of  years  the  abbey  with  its  triplet  towers  appeared  to 
stand,  in  the  centre  of  a  broad  fen  unrivalled  in  its  dignity  by 
art  or  nature ;  but  on  nearer  approach  it  was  found  to  be 
hovering  over  a  crowded  mass  of  humble  cottages,  their  shelter- 
ing mother.  Even  to-day,  as  we  journey  by  rail  or  post  chaise 
toward  the  thriving  city  of  Kilwinning,  with  its  thousands  of  in- 
haliitants,  its  great  factories  and  extensive  foundries,  the  ancient 
media.'val  mother  of  the  town  is  seen  towering  high,  a  ]iondcrous 
mass  of  gray,  above  all  her  modern  surroundings.  Little  space 
is  given  the  time-woin  relic  of  Kilwinning's  earliest  history;  for 
streets  of  new-looking,  well-built  houses  and  shops  pass  directly 
under  its  shadow  on  every  side.  Here,  again,  the  past  and 
present    are    closely  interwoven.     We  stand  at  evening  beneath 


2  14  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

a  broken  arch  of  a  glorious  monument  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, we  Hsten  to  the  rumble  of  a  busy  factory  of  the  nine- 
teenth, and  watch  the  fires  flash  from  the  glowing  foundries. 
The  schoolboy  of  Kilwinning  has  no  farther  to  look  to  find 
the  glory  of  Scotland's  past,  and  the  complete  annihilation  of 
that  past,  than  to  see  the  strength  of  Scotland's  present. 

The  early  history  of  the  abbey,  after  its  founding,  is  in- 
volved in  much  obscurity.  As  in  the  case  of  its  sister  abbey 
at  Arbroath,  founded  almost  simultaneously,  work  was  begun 
upon  the  church  immediately  after  its  foundation  and  was 
pushed  rapidly,  with  few  breaks,  for  fifty  years ;  for  within  this 
period  the  church  was  certainly  completed,  the  greater  part  of 
Kilwinning  probably  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury and  the  greater  part  of  Arbroath  in  the  last  of  the  twelfth. 

Large  grants  were  made  to  the  abbey  by  king  and  knights ; 
the  monastery  grew  and  flourished  until  its  wealth  surpassed 
even  that  of  the  mother  monastery  at  Kelso,  whence  the  first 
monks  had  been  brought,  for  these  brethren  were  of  St.  Ber- 
nard's order  of  Benedictines,  called  Tironensians. 

During  the  wars  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  abbey  was 
harassed  by  land  and  sea.  In  poverty  and  want,  after  years 
of  suffering,  the  abbot  and  his  followers  called  upon  the  king, 
David  II.,  who  gave  them  material  aid  of  fresh  benefactions 
and  new  revenues.  Robert  II.  and  III.,  James  III.  and  IV., 
followed    with    new  grants    and   confirmations,   until    the   abbey 


KILWINNING  215 

was  again  beginning  to  prosper.  It  was  undoubtedly  at  this 
time  that  the  present  domestic  edifices  were  built  to  replace 
those  destroyed  during  the  wars  of  Bruce's  time.  From  this 
we  can  judge  that,  though  the  abbey  was  blessed  with  moder- 
ate prosperity  in  the  benefactions  of  the  kings,  it  did  not 
attain  to  its  pristine  splendour. 

Little  is  heard  of  the  abbey  from  this  time  until  Mary's 
reign,  when,  with  its  lands,  it  passed,  like  so  many  of  its  kind, 
into  the  hands  of  temporal  lords,  who,  as  commendators, 
administered  the  monastic  lands  "for  the  utility  and  advan- 
tage "  of  the  monastery.  It  is  well  known  what  those  words 
meant.  The  abbey  soon  became  a  free  temporal  lordship  and 
passed  freely  from  hand  to  hand  for  the  "  utility  and  advan- 
tage "  of  the  temporal  lords  concerned.  Toward  the  end  of 
the  sixteenth  century  the  earls  of  Arran,  Glencairn,  and 
Argyle  joined  with  the  "Protestants  of  the  West"  to  wipe  the 
memory  of  the  abbey  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  This 
worthy  mission  succeeded  pretty  well,  though  they  spared,  by 
accident  wc  presume,  one  powerful  fragment  that  for  three 
hundred  years  has  pointed  its  aged  finger  to  the  sky,  calling 
down  vengeance  upon  the  destroyers  of  the  shrine  of  one  of 
Christ's  earliest  messengers  to  the  Scottish  people. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


CROSRAGUEL 


ri^i     One  might  say  that  each  of  Scotland's  ruined  abbeys 

r  f^Tmlil^i^    i^^^-i     I       est,  some  feature  or  detail  which  the 

others  do  not  possess,  or  at  least  do 
not  present  in  an  equally  interest- 
ing way.     At   Holyrood  it   is  the 
vaulting,  at  Jedburgh  the  majestic 
Norman  work,  at  Melrose  the  carv- 
ing and  tracery,  at  Dryburgh  it  is 
the  site   and    the    precious    relics    there 
entombed    that    engross    most    of     our 
attention  and  hold  our  thoughts  longest 
when  we  have  come  away. 

In  the  different  abbeys  already  de- 
scribed we  have  found  all  the  styles  of 
mediaeval  ecclesiastical  architecture  worthily  represented ;  taking 
the  entire  range  of  abbeys  so  far  as  we  have  gone,  we  have 
found  each  part  of  the  church  edifice  in  one  or  more  instances, 
though    never    all    in    a    single  building.     We    have    seen   frag- 

216 


SEDILIA   FROM   CROSRAGUEL. 


CROSRAGUEL  2  I  7 

ments  of  the  ancient  clusters  of  cloistral  buildings,  with  here 
and  there  a  well-preserved  or  a  restored  example.  But  for  the 
most  perfect  set  of  monastic  and  domestic  edifices  we  must  turn 
to  a  beautiful  little  ruin  in  the  south  of  Ayrshire,  near  the 
coast,  far  from  the  haunts  of  men,  in  a  lonely  little  valley  be- 
tween Maybole  and  Kirk  Oswald.  This  abbey  was  called  in 
ancient  times  Crossragmol ;  in  fact,  its  name  is  variously 
spelled  during  the  three  hundred  years  of  its  active  history. 
It  now  goes  by  the  name  of  Crosraguel.  From  its  dimensions 
we  should  say  that  this  abbey  was  the  smallest  of  all  that  we 
are  reviewing,  excepting  perhaps  only  Beauly  in  the  extreme 
north.  Nevertheless,  its  abbots  held  regal  sway  over  all  the 
lower  parts  of  Ayrshire  for  several  hundred  years  and  its  infiu- 
ence  was  felt  far  and  wide  over  the  southwestern  domain. 
Further  interest  attaches  to  Crosraguel  on  account  of  its  long 
and  intimate  connection  with  the  family  of  King  Robert  Bruce; 
f(jundcd  by  one  of  his  most  famous  ancestors,  the  abbey  was 
cherished  by  his  parents,  endowed  by  the  Bruce  himself,  and 
long  remained  a  favoured  beneficiary  and  frequent  resort  of 
the  sovereigns  of  the  house  of  Stuart. 

The  abbots  of  Crosraguel  were  many  of  them  famous  men, 
whose  fingers  not  only  wielded  the  sccjitre  of  their  ])ricstly 
office  but  mingled   in   the  affairs  of  state. 

The  monastery,  with  its  far-reaching  group  of  buildings, 
owes    its    remarkable    state   of   preservation    to    two    things:    its 


2l8 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


remoteness  from  the  centres  of  civil  and  religious  strife,  and 
the  proximity  of  the  castles  of  a  number  of  powerful  lords 
who,  from  the  first,  were  friendly  to  the  establishment.  In 
later  years  it  has  fallen  much  to  decay,  and  unless  speedy 
measures  are  taken  to  prevent  the  unnecessary  rapidity  of 
disintegration,  Scotland  will  soon  lose  one  of  her  most  unique 
monuments  of  media^valism. 

To  reach  Crosraguel  one  must  go  by  rail  to  Maybole  and 
from  there  make  a  short  journey  through  a  quiet  countryside 
by  the  road  that  eventually  leads  out  to  the  sea  at  Girvan. 
Soon  after  passing  the  last  of  the  houses  which  form  the 
thrifty  hamlet  of    Maybole,  one   may  descry  in    the    distance    a 

medireval  landmark 
that  like  a  signpost 
points  to  the  older 
and  more  venerable 
edifice  beyond.  No 
one,  however  igno- 
rant of  the  principles 
of  architecture,  even 
at  a  distance  could 
mistake  this  first  monument  of  the  Middle  Ages,  that  looms  up 
before  us  on  the  road  to  Crosraguel,  for  the  abbey  itself.  The 
note  it  proclaims  from  its  beetling  turrets  is  far  too  warlike 
for  even   the   most   militant    of   monasteries.      Baltersan    Castle, 


"-^ii^Ci^ 


r^^MK]  » 


i' 


■^m^ 


BALTERSAN    CASTLE,    WITH    ABBEY    IN    THE    DISTANCE. 


CROSRAGUEL 


219 


for  that  is  the  name  of  the  ruin,  is  an  imposing  specimen  of 
Scottish  baronial  style,  standing  solitary  among  the  fields  it 
once  protected,  a  fitting  outpost  and  guardian  for  the  old 
abbey  which  in  its  day  saw  full  share  of  warlike  assault,  de- 
fending itself  often  single-handed  until  outside  relief  should 
come.  When  we  have  reached  the  castle,  the  ruins  of  the 
abbey  become  dimly  visible  at  a  considerable  distance  beyond. 
Close  at  hand  we  have  the  massy  ruin  of  Scottish  mediaeval 
chivalry ;  beyond,  a  crumbling  tower  and  gable,  crowned  with  a 
cross  of  stone,  mark  the  desolate  remains  of  the  great  reli- 
gious life  that  first  brought  faith  to  these  northern  shores.  One 
cannot  but  muse  over  such  a  sight,  nor  suppress  the  thought 
that,  after  all,  it  is  not  only  "  the  pride  of  heraldry,  the  pomp 
of  power "  that  are  ephemeral ;  for  what  is  to  be  found  below 
that  distant  cross  cxcej)t  the  nameless  and  unmarked  graves 
of  hundreds  of  men  who  lived  for  the  better  things  of  this 
life  and  that  to  come.'*  Their  works  have  perished  like  those 
of  the  warrior  and   their  reward  is  yet  to  come. 

The  abbcv  is  close  l)y  the  roadside,  opj)osite  a  tiny  cottage 
where  the  key  is  kept. 

On  entering  fi-oni  the  highroad  we  cross  an  ancient  and 
unused  graveyard  and  find  ourselves  facing  the  nf)rth  side  of 
the  church,  with  the  main  entrance  to  the  nave  near  its 
western  end  and  a  range  of  somewhat  irregular  windows  open- 
ing from  nave  and  choir. 


220 


SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 


Entering  by  the  door  of  the  nave,  we  find  a  simple,  oblong 
structure  divided  from  the  choir  by  a  heavy  wall,  pierced  by 
a    bluntly   pointed    archway   and    carried    up    to    form    a    gable 

capped  by  a  bell  tower 
surmounted  in  turn  by 
a  well-carved  cross  of 
early  design. 

The  choir  is  singu- 
larly long,  terminated 
by  a  polygonal  apse. 
Here,  remains  of  some 
decoration  —  piscinas, 
ambries,  and  fine, 
though  broken,  sedilia 
—  manifest  the  greater 
dignity  of  this  portion 
of  the  church. 

In  the  south  wall 
of  the  choir  are  two 
doors ;  that  nearest  the 
altar  leading  into  a 
spacious  vaulted  sac- 
risty ;  the  other  leads  into  open  air.  This  we  pass  through 
and  find  ourselves  in  the  broad  cloister  court.  To  the  right 
stretches    the    long   and    unbroken    line    of   the    nave   wall,  still 


A. 

.V>re. 

B. 

rhoir. 

C. 

S  icraty. 

D. 

Cliapter  House. 

E. 

Slrpc". 
<:ioi^t«r  Court. 

F. 

G. 

V  lullrrt  Cell.. 

n. 

KiUtlRl. 

K. 

Rrf«:wrjr. 

M. 

ii-iV    loiwe. 

N. 

ri.,T..  r.,tr. 

(1. 

.N.-W  At.tM.tN  llouje. 

F. 

Pounlation  WalU. 

R. 

£ut«ru  Court. 

N 

OF  CROSRAGUEL 

ABBEY. 

CROSRAGUEL 


221 


bearing  the  corbels  which  held  up  the  cloister  roof;  to  the  left 
a  series  of  arched  doorways  mark  the  front  walls  of  the  more 
important  monasterial  buildings.  Opposite,  to  west  and  south, 
lie   the   more   or   less    ruined    walls    of    the    domestic    buildings. 


SiiL  .^^tf^&^4#%^i|Si 


'm 


.-  .jj-_"3*T  .  -    ^-#''  -'i^-t'MV 


:if 


-fe^^:/;.:^.-^^:^ 

CROSRAGUEL:    THE  NAVE.     From   Point  J  on   I'Lin. 

In    the    centre    of    the    court    a   low   fence   encloses   the   ancient 
abbey  well,  to  which  one  descends  by  a  few  Stone  steps. 

If  we  pass  thrf)UL;li  the  slype  lo  the  east,  we  discover  a 
triangular  enclosure,  the  f.iitlier  side  marked  by  a  mere  mound 
of    crumbling    masonry   wliit  li    is    said    to    have    been    originally 


2  22  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

the  abbot's  hall.  Beyond,  at  a  little  distance,  a  ruinous,  semi- 
baronial  structure,  over  the  burn,  stands  for  the  latest  of  the 
abbey's  buildings  —  the  abbot's  house. 

Returning  to  the  cloister  and  passing  through  it  to  the 
southwest,  we  find  ourselves  in  another  broad  close  bounded 
on  the  north  by  a  group  of  buildings,  the  central  one  of  which 
is  a  fine  gatehouse,  the  main  entrance  to  the  abbey  precinct, 
with  an  imposing  watchtower  preserved  entire.  To  the  west 
were  a  few  low  buildings  and  about  the  remainder  of  the  close 
are  the  remains  of  a  high  enclosing  wall  with  a  picturesque 
dovecot  in  its  southwestern  angle. 

Walking  from  court  to  court,  from  hall  to  hall,  ascending 
winding  stairs  to  sit  in  a  deep  window  seat  and  view  the 
whole  abbey  and  the  farm  lands  far  around,  standing  by 
ancient  fireplace,  burrowing  in  ruined  kitchen  and  storeroom, 
and  returning,  at  sound  of  bell,  to  the  sacred  precinct  of  the 
choir,  we  find  at  Crosraguel  a  lingering  shadow  of  monastic 
life  that  has  completely  perished  from  all  the  other  Scottish 
abbeys.  It  is  possible  here,  as  nowhere  else,  one  might  say, 
in  all  Britain,  to  reconstruct  the  simple  routinary  daily  life  of 
the  Clunensian  monk.  When  night  shadows  fall  and  the  dark 
conceals  the  more  broken  portions  of  wall  and  arch,  it  requires 
but  a  faint  imagination  to  replace  the  abbey  in  its  pristine 
state,  to  see  the  far-stretching  roofs  restored  to  shelter  a  little 
host    of    monks    and    laymen,    to    see    the    blazing    fire    in    the 


CROSRAGUEL 


22 


kitchen  and  the  lamps  swinging  bright  over  the  long  tables  of 
the  refectory,  to  see  the  beacon  on  the  tall  watchtower  and 
faint  lights  glimmer  from  each  tiny  window,  to  see  the  dim 
candle  above  the  altar  where  gather  the  black-robed  monks  for 


WATCH   TOWKR,    CHAl'TKU    HOUSE,   AND   Al'SE. 

/''rom  Point  4  on  Plan. 

evening  prayer;  then,  if  imagination  be  strong  enough,  will 
follow  the  pealing  anthems  of  the  even-song;  then  the  church 
grows  dim,  the  sound  of  chanting  ceases,  the  monks  file  out 
of  the  choir  and  ascend  the  winding  stair;  but  the  duties  of 
the  day  are  not  yet  over,  for  all  night  long,  at  intervals,  prayers 
must  be  said  and  orisons  be   told  again. 

])Ut  we  mu.st  examine  the  buildings  (A  the  abbey  more  in 
dctnil  if  we  woulfl  endeavour  to  discover  the  dates  of  its 
erection. 


2  24  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

The  most  ancient  parts  are  unquestionably  in  the  church 
proper,  in  its  foundations  and  in  the  western  portions,  the 
jambs  of  the  west  and  north  portals,  and  other  minor  details. 
These  are  of  the  thirteenth-century  style  and  doubtless  belong 
to  the  abbey's  earliest  period.  All  the  rest  of  the  church  is 
in  later  styles.  The  plan  shows  a  perfectly  simple  aisleless 
choir  and  nave  of  great  length.  Excavations  undertaken  at 
the  abbey  some  years  ago  disclosed  the  foundations  of  a  north 
transept  corresponding  to  what  is  now  the  sacristy  and  chap- 
ter house,  both  of  which  are  built  upon  older  foundation 
walls.  The  present  choir,  however,  has  no  transept.  It  is  a 
specimen  of  good  decorated  style,  and  doubtless  belongs  to 
the  period  of  great  prosperity  which  the  abbey  enjoyed  after 
the  granting  of  its  great  charter  in   1404. 

The  broad  pointed  windows  of  the  choir  and  three-sided 
apse  show  good  mouldings  with  groups  of  slender  colonettes 
at  the  jambs.  The  bays  of  the  choir  are  divided  by  groups 
of  three  slender  wall  shafts,  which  in  the  apse  rest  upon  bases 
set  upon  the  pavement,  but  which  are  everywhere  else  stopped 
by  corbels.  At  the  level  of  the  arches  the  outer  mouldings 
of  the  group  branch  to  right  and  left  and  form  a  moulding 
over  the  windows.  The  sanctuary  contains  a  beautiful  sedilia 
of  fine  decorated  design  and  an  extremely  rich,  though  much- 
injured,  piscina.  The  beaded  steps  of  the  high  altar  are  plainly 
visible,  but  a  flourishing  young  thorn  tree   occupies   the   altar's 


CROSRAGUEL 


225 


site.  All  the  tracery  of  the  choir  has  completely  disappeared 
as  if  it  had  never  been.  The  outer  buttresses  are  of  s^ood 
early  decorated  design  and  the  window  headings  are  of  ex- 
cellent form.  The  windows  of  the  nave  are  a  nondescript  lot; 
one  of  them  is  filled  with  very  late  tracery,  while  others  have 
transoms.  The  former  opening  is  directly  above  the  tomb  of 
a  benefactress  of  the  abbey  who  died  in  1530;  and  is  doubtless 
contemporary  with  the  burial  of  the  Lady  Egidia  Blair,  who 
lived  in  the  castle  hard  by. 

The  heavy  screen  wall  which  divides  nave  and  choir  is 
also  late  and  is  built  upon  the  axis  of  one  of  the  nave  win- 
dows. In  one  angle  is  a  stair,  and  at  the  top  a  belfry  with  a 
fine  crosletted  cross  of  sixteenth-century  design.  The  arch 
below  is   well  formed  and  moulded. 

The  building  next  to  the  abbey  in  the  south  is  the  sacristy. 
We  arc  told  that  this  was  the  chapter  house  when  the  north 
transept  was  in  existence.  The  doorway  is 
certainly  recent.  The  lower  walls  of  the  sac- 
risty are  somewhat  older  than  the  vault,  })er- 
haj:)s  coeval  with  the  choir;  it  is  i)rovided  with 
a  low  seat,  like  a  chapter  house,  and  in  the 
northeastern  corner  a  round-arclud  dooi"  ()])ens 
upon  a  sj:>iral  stair  tliat  Ud  to  the  upper  story. 
Its  window  preserves  remnants  of  rather  late  flowing  tracery, 
but    its    vault    is    jnost    interesting.      The    apartment    is    oblong 


CArrrAi,  from 

SACKISTV. 


2  26  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

and  the  vault  to  cover  it  was  made  sexpartite  with  three  obHque 
cells.  The  ribs  rest  either  upon  grotesque  corbels  or  groups 
of  shafts  rising  from  the  stone  seat. 

The  chapter  house  adjoining  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of 
late  decorated  vault  work;  it  is  a  square  apartment  divided  into 
four  vault  compartments  by  a  fine  cluster  of  shafts  which  stands 
in  the  centre  to  receive  the  transverse  and  diagonal  ribs  of  each 
vault.  The  ribs  rest  on  clustered  shafts  rising  from  the  seat, 
which,  as  usual,  is  carried  all  round.  To  the  east  are  two  fine 
windows  preserving  bits  of  tracery  in  all  respects  like  that  of 
the  sacristy.  Between  the  windows  is  the  abbot's  throne  carved 
in  the  wall.  The  decorations  have  been  much  defaced,  but 
they  consisted  of  grotesques  and  armorial  bearings  carved  upon 
the  corbels,  capitals,  and  keystones. 

Next  to  the  chapter  house  is  a  spacious  barrel-vaulted 
chamber,  and  adjoining  this  the  passage  connecting  the  main 
cloister  with  the  eastern  garth.  The  story  above  these  build- 
ings is  well  preserved  between  the  church  wall  and  a  high 
gabled  wall  and  chimney  which  rises  at  the  end  of  the  chapter 
house  and  supported  wooden  roofs  on  either  side  of  it.  Above 
the  sacristy  was  the  scriptorium.  It  was  reached  directly  by 
the  winding  stairs  from  the  sacristy.  The  vaults  of  the  sacristy 
are  greatly  domed,  so  that  the  floor  of  the  scriptorium  is  higher 
than  that  of  the  apartment  adjacent,  and  one  must  descend 
a  few  steps  to  the  library,  which  must  have  been  a  roomy  and 


CROSRAGUEL  227 

comfortable  apartment  with  two  small  windows  to  the  east,  a 
large  mullioned  window  upon  the  cloister  court,  and  a  great 
fireplace  at  its  southern  end.  The  buttresses  on  the  outside 
of  these  buildings  are  of  good  form,  and  would  date  their 
construction  not  long  after  the  middle  of  the  fift^nth  cen- 
tury. 

The  remaining  buildings  of  the  eastern  range  are  mainly 
vaulted  chambers  of  unknown  purpose.  The  best-preserved 
building  on  the  south  of  the  cloister  is  called  the  refectory. 
It  has  a  great  fireplace  and  low,  queer  little  windows,  and  seems 
as  likely  to  have  been  the  kitchen.  Within  its  wall  is  a  straight 
staircase  which  led  to  the  dormitories.  The  ruins  of  a  orcat 
building  on  the  west  show  a  large  pointed  doorway  and  seem 
to  me  more  suitable  for  the  refectory  than  the  low,  once- 
vaulted,  badly   lighted   apartment  on   the  south. 

The  inner  wall  of  the  cloister  walk  has  almost  entirely 
disappeared ;  in  one  corner  a  portion  of  an  arch  shows  the 
anfjles  to  have   been  of  arched  construction. 

The  eastern  garth  was  bounded  on  the  south  by  a  structure 
the  lower  vaulted  story  of  which  still  ri'inains  in  ])art.  It  very 
probably  connected  with  the  abbot's  tower,  which  stands  above 
the  little  stream  and  presents  a  few  interesting  details.  The 
walls  are  very  heavy  and  fitted  with  stairs,  firej^laces,  vaulted 
chambers,  and  machic olnted  i)aiapct.  The  burn  j)asses  beneath 
by  a  vaulted   passage  and  a  stair  leads  down   to  the   water. 


2  28  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ARRF.YS 

The  southwestern  courtyard,  through  which  the  burn  flowed, 
had  a  number  of  buildings  at  the  west  and  north, —  the  bakery, 
the  l)rcwcry,  etc., —  but  the  gatehouse  with  its  interesting  tower 
is  the  only  one  remaining.  Its  main  story,  a  broad  arch, 
afforded  the  chief  entrance  to  the  monastery  ;  beside  the  arch- 
way a  spiral  stair  leads  up  into  the  tower.  The  upper  floors 
comprise  comfortable  apartments,  with  deeply  recessed  windows, 
for  guests.  The  circular  angle  tower  with  its  spiral  stair  be- 
comes a  square  structure  at  the  top,  where  a  little  room  for 
the  watch  is  provided  w^ith  window  seats  on  either  side  of  a 
large  opening.  This  room  has  access  to  the  battlemented  roof 
of  the  main  portion  of  the  tower. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  when 
Duncan,  the  old  Earl  of  Carrick,  felt  the  need  of  Christian- 
izing influence  among  his  retainers  of  the  south  of  Ayrshire. 
He  therefore,  in  1244,  made  large  grants  of  land  with  gifts  of 
money  to  the  abbot  of  Paisley,  with  instructions  that  a  monas- 
tery of  his  order  with  outlying  churches  should  be  established 
in  the  domain  of  Carrick.  But  Earl  Duncan,  like  many  since 
his  time,  soon  found  that  the  founding:  of  churches  was  not  all 
peace  and  good  will,  for  the  w^ily  abbot  satisfied  himself  with 
erecting  a  small  chapel  at  Crosraguel  and  pocketed  the  re- 
mainder of  the  endowment.  The  earl  appealed  to  the  Bishop 
of  Glasgow,  who  directed  the  abbey  at  Paisley  to   establish    an 


V 


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230  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED  ABBEYS 

independent  house  at  Crosraguel  which  should  have  all  the 
lands  of  Carrick,  then  in  possession  of  Paisley,  for  revenue; 
that  the  new  establishment  be  peopled  by  Benedictines  of  the 
order  of  Cluny  drawn  from  Paisley  and  free  to  elect  their  own 
abbot,  leaving  to  the  abbot  of  Paisley  only  the  right  of  annual 
inspection  and  a  tribute  of   ten  marks. 

The  abbot  appealed  unsuccessfully  to  the  Pope,  who  in 
1265  confirmed  the  charter  of  the  abbey,  and  Crosraguel  began 
to  raise  its  buildings  on  an  independent  foundation.  The 
nobles  of  the  house  of  Carrick  watched  the  growth  of  the  new 
abbey  from  their  castle  of  Turnberry,  on  the  coast  near  by; 
many  were  the  gifts  they  gave  and  much  did  their  promises  of 
protection  mean  to  the  abbot  and  the  brethren.  About  the 
year  1270  the  title  descended  to  a  woman,  —  Marjory,  —  who,  as 
Countess  of  Carrick,  was  wooed  and  won  by  one  Robert,  Earl 
of  Annandale. 

These  good  people  were  no  less  than  the  parents  of  the 
great  Robert  Bruce.  The  earl  and  countess  were  great  bene- 
factors of  the  abbey,  and  their  young  son  was  brought  often 
to  the  abbey  in  childhood.  As  king,  Robert  was  lavish  in 
gifts  to  the  abbey;  he  granted  a  charter  confirming  the  endow- 
ments of  Earl  Duncan.  In  the  year  of  his  death  the  Exchequer 
Rolls  show  large  gifts  from  the  privy  purse  for  repairs  upon 
the  abbey  buildings.  David  II.  followed  his  father's  example 
and  endowed  the  monastery  with  large  benefactions. 


CROSRAGUEL  231 

A  hundred  years  passed ;  the  abbey  had  grown  in  wealth 
and  beauty.  The  ravages  of  war  had  been  atoned  for  by  the 
restored  blessings  of  peace,  and  the  inmates  had  settled  into 
placid  repose.  Abbot  Roger  had  grown  old  in  office ;  his  once 
powerful  grasp  upon  the  reins  of  discipline  gradually  loosened 
until  the  morale  of  the  monastery  was  running  itself.  Serious 
faults  found  shelter  beneath  the  abbey's  roof.  Complaints  were 
made  to  the  supervising  abbot  of  Paisley,  who  quickly  advised 
Abbot  Roger  that  he  should  make  a  visitation,  when  he  should 
expect  certain  reputed  irregularities  to  be  explained. 

On  Michaelmas  Day  in  the  year  1370  the  Court  of  Inquiry 
convened  in  the  chapter  house  of  Crosraguel.  The  visiting 
abbot  was  seated  in  the  chair  of  state;  about  him  were  grouped 
his  followers.  Poor  old  Abbot  Roger  with  his  little  Hock  stood 
before  this  judge  and  jury  of  ecclesiastics.  But,  before  the  in- 
quiry could  proceed,  the  venerable  abbot  resigned  his  mitre 
and  pastoral  staff  into  the  hands  of  his  suj)erior,  saying  that 
age  and  infirmity  had  rendered  him  incapable  of  governing  his 
flock  or  of  arlmlnistcring  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  abbey. 
Abbot  John  of  ]\'iisley,  gras])ing  the  situation  at  once,  stayed 
the  investigations,  simply  accepted  Abbot  Roger's  resignation, 
and  fixed  a  day  for  the  monks  to  elect  a  successor  to  their 
aged  pastor.  Roger  was  given  jirixilcgcs  in  the  monastery,  and 
remained  within  its  walls  an  huni])l('  hiother  until  he  was  laid 
with   the  other  abbots  outside   the  wall. 


2  32  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

In  1404  Robert  III.  raised  the  abbey  to  great  dignity  by 
granting  it  a  perpetual  free  royal  charter,  which  made  its 
abbots  princes  of  their  domain,  which  now  extended  over  all 
of  Carrick  and  far  out  to  the  dome  of  Ailsa  Craig. 

The  buildings,  which  had  become  somewhat  dilapidated, 
were  almost  entirely  rebuilt  at  this  period ;  the  choir  is  a  sur- 
vival of  this  work.  Soon  after  the  middle  of  the  century 
Abbot  Colin  began  his  long  and  prosperous  rule.  He  built 
the  sacristy  and  chapter  house  and  many  of  the  buildings  of 
the  cloister  which  have  remained. 

In  the  reign  of  James  V.  the  Pope  ordered  the  Bishop  of 
St.  Andrews  to  visit  every  monastery  in  Scotland  and  to  punish 
the  "  excess  and  enormity  of  the  brethren  dwelling  therein." 
At  this  time  the  influential  Abbot  David  secured  from  the 
Holy  See  special  immunity  from  inspection. 

After  this  two  powerful  members  of  the  Carrick  family 
succeeded  in  turn  to  the  abbacy,  and  the  abbey  enjoyed  special 
protection  at  a  time  when  others  were  suffering  severely.  The 
Kennedys  of  Dunure  Castle  now  became  very  powerful  in  the 
region,  and  William  Kennedy  became  abbot.  To  this  abbot 
the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow  sent  his  treasure,  his  jewels,  his 
plate,  his  costly  vestments,  and  a  rare  collection  of  books  for 
protection  in  the  abbey.  William  was  succeeded  by  his 
nephew,  Quentin,  who  held  the  great  controversy  with  John 
Knox  in  Maybole,   1562. 


CROSRAGUEL 


233 


In  1 56 1  the  earls  of  Arran,  Glencairn,  and  Argyle  were  sent 
out  on  their  mission  of  executing  the  act  of  Privy  Council 
suppressing  "  Idolatori  and  all  monuments  thereof,"  and  among 
other  things  they  tore  down  part  of  Crosraguel,  but  fear  of 
the  neighbouring  lords  prevented   total  demolition  at  this  time. 


^^*-*»--/-<\  — ^-sr 


THE   DOVE-tXHH,   CROSRAGUEL. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE   ABBEYS   OF  GALLOWAY 

Wliitliom  —  Glenluce 

In  the  earliest  pages  of  the  dim,  half-mythical  history  of 
ancient  Caledonia  we  find  a  ray  of  well-authenticated  tradition 
in  the  appearance  of  St.  Ninian  among  the  Pictish  tribes  of  the 
southwest.  At  the  coming  of  this  sainted  British  missionary 
to  the  shores  of  the  ancient  domain  of  Galloway,  the  Picts  of 
the  southwest  were  allied  with  the  Romans  against  the  other 
tribes  of  fierce  Caledonians;  for  Rome  had  not  withdrawn  her 
legions  to  the  Imperial  City,  and  this  part  of  Britain,  like  the 
south,  was  fast  becoming  Romanized. 

In  397  Ninian,  said  by  some  writers  to  have  been  the  first 
Christian  missionary  to  set  foot  in  Scotland,  set  up  the  cross 
on  the  bold  peninsula  that  separates  the  bays  of  Luce  and 
Wigtown.  It  seems  to  be  a  mooted  question  whether  the  his- 
toric Candida  Casa  of  St.  Ninian  was  built  upon  the  diminutive 
isle  off  the  point  of  the  Whithorn  promontory,  where  a  small 
chapel  is  claimed  by  some  to  mark  the  original  foundation,  or 
three  miles   further    up    the    peninsula,  on  the  site  occupied,  in 

234 


THE   ABBEYS   OF   GALLOWAY  235 

after  years,  by  the  famous  mediaeval  monastery  of  Whithorn. 
But,  be  this  as  it  may,  the  good  St.  Ninian  for  twenty-three 
years  continued  to  preach  among  the  half-civihzed  Picts.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  Galloway  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  hostile 
Scots,  who  were  extending  their  sway  over  all  Caledonia,  and 
the  British  missionary  with  his  Pictish  followers  was  driven 
to  take  refuge  in  Ireland.  Nevertheless  the  site  of  the  CaJidida 
Casa  preserved  its  sanctity  through  the  dark  unwritten  periods 
of  Scottish  history  until  the  twelfth  century,  when  we  find  the 
site  dignified  by  the  erection  of  a  great  religious  house ;  one  of 
the  most  important  of  its  time. 

The  domain  of  Galloway  remained  for  many  years  inde- 
pendent ;  the  lords  of  the  domain  held  almost  regal  sway 
over  the  whole  territory.  It  was  not  until  the  accession  of 
David  I.  that  Galloway  was  annexed  to  the  Kingdom  and  made 
an  earldom. 

But  the  practical  independence  of  the  carls  during  the 
twelfth  century  is  nowhere  better  illustrated  than  in  a  review 
of  the  monastic  institutions  founded  within  their  domain  during 
the  years  of  religious  activity  that  followed  the  accession  of 
David  I.  to  the  Scottish  throne.  While  the  king  was  laying 
the  foundations  of  numerous  abbeys,  priories,  and  i  hurclu's 
throughout  every  portion  of  his  realm,  T'ergus,  l.oidof  Gallo- 
way, was  founding  and  endowing  monastic  institutions  of  equal 
extent  and  importance   in   the  several   parts  of  his  earldom. 


236  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

We  have  accounts  of  noble  families  establishing  one  or 
even  two  abbeys  in  the  days  of  David  I.,  but  here  we  see 
Earl  Fergus  laying  corner  stones  of  extensive  monasteries  at 
Whithorn  in  the  centre  of  his  domain,  at  Soulseat  on  his  western 
borders,  and  Tongueland  on  the  eastern,  and  sharing  with  his 
king  the  honour  of  founding  the  great  abbey  of  Dundrennan 
near  Kirkcudbright.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  century  we 
find  his  son  Roland  establishing  an  abbey  in  the  valley  of 
the  Luce  and  endowing  churches  on  both  sides  of  the  bay  of 
Galloway;  another  son,  Uchtred,  founding  a  famous  convent 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nith,  and  in  later  years  his  great-grand- 
daughter building  the  most  beautiful  abbey  of  all  in  Galloway, 
a  few  miles  to  the  south  of  Dumfries.  Thus  the  powerful 
lords  of  Galloway,  who  knew  but  one  rival  in  their  ruling, 
founded,  endowed,  and  protected  the  ecclesiastical  settlements 
within  the  boundaries  of  their  ancient  possessions,  like  sover- 
eigns of  a  greater  realm.  In  one  case  the  name  of  the  king  is 
associated  with  that  of  the  head  of  the  house  in  founding  one 
of  their  great  institutions.  This  we  may  take  as  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  his  superior  sway,  though  it  admitted  no  necessity 
of  royal  assistance.  The  lords  of  the  southwestern  peninsulas 
remained  loyal  for  many  centuries,  but  as  nearly  independent 
rulers  as  was  consistent  with  loyalty  to  the  Crown. 

Of  the  edifices  erected  by  Earl  Fergus  very  few  remains 
have    been    spared    the    ravages   of   war   and    the    vandalism    of 


THE   ABBEYS   OF   GALLOWAY  237 

the  Reformation.  By  the  placid  lake  of  Soulscat  only  a  few 
mounds  of  moulderino:  earth  mark  the  site  of  the  westernmost 
of  these  abbeys.  A  single  arch  of  apparently  Early  English 
design  is  the  sole  surviving  remnant  of  Tongueland  Abbey, 
beside  the  waters  of  Dee.  Both  of  these  monasteries  were 
founded  about  1140  and  were  colonized  by  Premonstratensian 
monks,  like  those  at  Uryburgh,  but  from  Cokersand  in  Lanca- 
shire. Their  history  is  lost  forever  in  the  oblivion  of  Reforma- 
tion annihilation,  and  their  massive  walls  have  long  since  gone 
to  build  the  homes  of  })lebeian  laymen;  only  the  record  of 
their  name  lives  with  the  memory  of  their  pious  founder. 

The  oldest  of  Fergus's  abbeys,  the  shrine  of  St.  Ninian, 
—  built  upon  foundations  older  perhaps  than  those  of  Sta. 
Sophia,  Justinian's  great  church,  —  is  in  rather  a  better  state  of 
preservation.  Of  the  original  structure,  of  course,  no  traces  are 
distinguishable,  but  the  edifice  of  I'ergus's  building  is  repre- 
sented in  a  fine  dof)rway  and  fragments  of  wall.  A  little  o\-er 
two  hundred  years  ago,  Symson  tells  us,  the  single  western 
tower  and  the  nave  stood  comparatively  well  preserved ;  but 
the  fall  of  the  tower  in  later  years  greatly  damaged  the  west- 
ern extremity  of  the  main  body  of  the  cluirc  h,  ka\ing  the 
remainder  the  only   portion   of   interest. 

This  long,  aislele.ss  nave,  with  the  exception  of  the  Norman 
doorway  mentioned  above,  in  its  southwest  angle,  is  all  in 
rather  late  ]:)ointe(l    style.       A    range  of    good    pointed    windows 


23S 


SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 


and  a  pointed  doorway,  with  well-moulded  arch  and  slender 
nook  shafts,  give  character  to  the  south  wall,  while  the  un- 
broken wall  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  house,  with  other 
evidence,   proves    the    cloister   to    have    occupied  this  somewhat 

rare  position. 

Beside  the  nave 
there  remain  only  the 
vaulted  crypts  of  the 
choir  and  that  of  a 
structure  well  to  the 
east,  which  Mr.  Gal- 
loway, the  architect, 
who  has  conducted  ex- 
cavations here,  calls  a 
later,  secondary  tran- 
sept. A  fragment  of 
the  twelfth  -  century 
south  transept  wall, 
and  bits  of  the  foun- 
dations of  the  north 
transept,  which  is  believed  to  have  served  as  a  chapter  house, 
of  the  slype  and  other  domestic  buildings,  complete  the 
extant  remains  of  the  abbey  of  Whithorn.  The  Norman  door- 
way, through  which  we  may  believe  the  founder  passed,  is  at 
once    suggestive    of     the    western    portal    of    Dunfermline.       Its 


NORMAN    I'ORTAl,,    WlimiORN. 


THE   ABBEYS  OF   GALLOWAY  239 

nook  shafts  are  heavier  and  more  primitive  in  proportions,  but 
the  carving  of  the  caps  and  abaci  is  substantially  the  same, 
while  the  deep  mouldings  above,  with  their  chevron  ornament 
and  geometrical  pattern,  their  heavy  label  supported  at  either 
end  by  a  grotesque  head,  is  decidedly  reminiscent  of  Dunferm- 
line's grand  portal.  The  outer  mouldings  and  the  wall  above 
have  been  much  damaged  by  the  roof  of  a  porch  now  fortu- 
nately destroyed,  for  which  the  water  table  was  ruthlessly  cut 
into  the  stonework.  Above  the  arches,  in  the  old  Norman 
wall,  are  to  be  seen  some  squared  stones  carved  in  fantastic 
and  geometrical  patterns,  suggesting  the  rich  barbaric  Norman 
character  of  the  early  church. 

From  the  earliest  times  the  abbey  of  Whithorn  was  the 
object  of  religious  pilgrimages.  The  shrine  of  St.  Ninian 
was  held  in  hii^hest  reverence  throufrhout  the  Kinirdom, 
and  was  frequently  visited  by  royalty  and  persons  of  high 
rank.  King  Robert  the  Hruce  made  the  abbey  the  object  of 
his  devout  liljcrality,  and  is  known  to  have  made  a  pilgrimage 
hither  in  the  year  of  his  death.  James  IV.  chose  St.  Nininn's 
shrine  as  his  favourite  religious  retreat,  and  came,  ofkn  twice 
in  one  year,  to  pay  his  devotion  to  the  ))atn)n  saint.  (  )n  cer- 
tain occasions  these  visits  were  jxiid  in  r())al  spKiulonr,  "with 
rctinu(>  r)f  mnny  a  kniL:;ht  anrl  sfinirc."  The  abbey  buildings 
were  of  far  greater  extent  than  is  jiossibJe  for  ns  to  recon- 
struct   in    mind     uj)on     the     scant    remains    now    visible.       Tlie 


240  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

inmates,  wlio  were  of  Earl  Ferijus's  favourite  order,  the  Pre- 
nionstratensian,  were  often  very  numerous,  and  many  of  the 
later  abbots  distinguished  themselves  in  the  affairs  of  state. 


Glenluce 

From  the  first  abbey   of    Earl    Fergus,   situated  at  the   end 
of   the  Whithorn  peninsula,  ruined  and  desolate,  we    turn    to  a 

monastery   founded,    over    fifty   years    later, 

by    his  descendant,   Roland,  just   below  the 

moors,    in    a    lovely    valley    called    by    the 

monks    Vallis  Iticis,  down  which  the  water 

r'f-^iSi  n  i^'  of  Luce  rushes  in  a  turbulent  stream  of  rich 

•^lf^i^'^s<?,'l--/  amber   colour.     Down    the    valley   of    Luce 

.^l."4^^-^^p^^; — --       a   superb   view    stretches   far    out    over    an 

CORBEL  FROM  CHAPTER        ^rm    of   thc    sca   callcd    Luce    Bay,    to    the 

HOUSE,  GLENLUCE.  lighthousc     ou     thc      Mull     of      Galloway. 

Smooth,  WLJl-tilled  fields  spread  on  either  side  of  the  river 
and  surround  tlie  abbey  with  downs  of  level  green.  To  the 
north,  low,  heathery  hills  break  the  violence  of  winter  winds. 
An  ideal  spot  it  was  that  Roland  chose  for  the  site  of  his 
religious  establisliment,  and  happy  was  the  monk  sent  to 
Glenluce. 

An    extensive    and    exceptionally    beautiful    abbey    with    far- 
reaching  monastic  buildings,  built  largely  in  the  late  decorated 


THE   ABBEYS   OF   GALLOWAY 


241 


style  of  Melrose,  stood  almost  intact,  in  the  vale  of  Luce, 
until  1646,  when  it  was  sold  to  be  used  as  a  quarry.  Havino- 
escaped  the  ravages  of  war  and  the  violent  hands  of  the 
Reformers,  it  was  ignomini- 
ously  torn  down,  its  well-cut 
stone  being  carted  away  for 
the  foundations  and  walls  of 
numerous  castles  and  manor 
houses  in  the  district. 

Of  the  church  there  re- 
main upright  only  the  wall 
and  gable  of  the  south  tran- 
sept, but  it  is  possible  to 
discover  in  the  debris  that 
surrounds  the  private  burial 
plot  which  occupies  the  site 
of  the  choir,  the  lines  of  a 
two-aisled  nave,  slightly  j)n)jerling  transepts,  an  aislcless  choir, 
and  a  vaulted  sacristy  adjoining  the  south  transc])t  (o  Ihe  east. 
The  cloister  court  seems  not  to  have  been  reached  in  the  van- 
dalistic  operations  that  annihilated  the  nave;  for  the  range  of 
buildings  on  ith  eastfiMi  side  is  fairly  well  preserved  in  one  storv, 
while  the  three  other  sides  are   traceable   in   p.ilehed-np  walls. 

The  surface  of  the  cloister  court  seems  to   li,i\c  been  raised 
by  the  accumulation   of  debris  to  over  two  feet  above  its  origi- 


A.    Navfl. 
D.   Chulr. 


C.  8.   Tnin»ppt.  E.    Hljpe.  O,  U.    Viiuln.|  Ollj. 

D.  Chapter  llouito.         F.    Clohtpr. 


I'l.AN    OK   CIKNLUCE   AIUtKY, 


242 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


nal   level.      Adjoining   the   transept   is   a   chamber,  probably  the 
slype,   filled    with    fragments   and   overgrown   with   weeds.      But 


% 


- *'«j'i.    •       '        ,1,  - .-__  •.I      -^ . 

.^.».       ,..«^^.^^.;,        .^^^...  --?-•.  -V.^,jr,.     -.,>i..    .^, 

GLENLUCE:    TRANSEPT   END   AND   CUAl'TEK   HOUSE   FROM    SOUTHEAST. 

next  to  this  is  one  of  the  most  charming  examples  of  the 
characteristic  Scottish  chapter  house  in  all  the  north  country, 
—  a  chamber  twenty-four  feet  square,  vaulted  in  four  compart- 
ments which  have  a  common  support  in  a  fine  cluster  of 
slender  shafts  in  the  centre  of  the  building,  lighted  from  the 
east  by  two  pointed  windows  with  mullioned  tracery,  restored 
by  some  lover  of  Gothic  art  from  original  fragments,  and 
opening  upon  the  cloister  by  a  richly  moulded  arch  of  delicate 
proportions  and  design.      The  carving  of  the  corbels   that   sup- 


THE   ABBEYS   OF   GALLOWAY 


243 


rM" 


( 


■••■v.'  '"z  .- ,    i~^-^  '-v — - ., 


port  the  slender  vault  ribs,  that  of  the  compound  capital,  of 
the  central  support,  of  the  keystones,  and  of  the  abbot's  chair, 
cut  into  the  eastern  wall,  is  all  of  graceful  design  treated  in  a 
manner  worthy  of  the  best  artists.  The  jambs  of  the  doorway 
are  decorated  just  below  the  arch  spring  with  a  band  of  flow- 
ing leaf-ornament  most  unique  in  composition,  while  a  label 
within  is  supported  by 
grotesque  heads  cowled 
like  monks.  One  key- 
stone bears  the  ram- 
pant lion  of  Scotland 
upon  his  well-known 
shield. 

It  is  impossible  to 
.say  why  this  beautiful 
vaulted  chaj^ter  house  ^"'^ 
was  left  unscathed  ;  per- 
chance it  was  for  the 
use  of  nonconfoi'inist 
worshippers.  It  was 
the  fold  of  /7V//  slu'e|:) 
when  I  \i^ited  it,  and 
their  fcrdii\i^-tronu;h  orrujiird  llic  most  ])r<.mincn1  pl.uc  in  the 
building.  .Adjoining  the  cli.i|)l<i-  house  are  two  simple  l):irvel- 
vaulted   chambers,  whose   ceilings    are    richly    decorated    with    a 


?^^T(  It*-. 


'J  L- 


DuoKWAV    OK    ClIAITKK    IldUSli. 

I'oiut  7  on  J 'la II. 


244  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

growth  of  maidenhair  fern  that  has  found  footing  between  the 
stones.  Its  even  growth,  stirred  by  a  gentle  breeze,  shows 
effects  of  changeable  green  seldom  seen  in  the  most  costly 
hansrino^s.  The  vaults  of  all  these  chambers  are  roofed  with  a 
thick  coating  of  earth  provided  with  heavy  turf,  so  that  they 
are  safe  for  the  present. 

The  towering  transept  wall  shows,  by  a  water  table,  how 
high  the  roofs  of  the  dormitories,  above  the  chapter  house  and 
other  buildings,  extended.  A  doorway  and  a  fragment  of  stair 
are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  wall,  and  three  small  windows  of 
good  pointed  character  open  out  above  the  roofs  of  the  cloister 
buildings. 

The  history  of  Glenluce  Abbey  must  be  short  as  the  de- 
scription of  its  parts.  It  was  peopled  by  monks  from  Melrose 
and  flourished  from  the  date  of  its  founding,  1190,  until  1545, 
when^  the  monks  were  driven  from  their  cloister.  For  some 
years  in  its  later  history,  the  abbey  was  a  bone  of  contention 
between  the  Kennedys  and  the  Gordons. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


DUNDRENNAN 


rrZ.-:/ 


There  is  no  county  in  all  Scotland  that  can 
boast  more  varied  scenery  than  Kirkcudbright- 
shire. The  broad  channel  of  the  river  Dee  winds 
its  course  from  north  to  south  through  moorland 
and  meadow,  cultivated  fields  and  marshy  fens. 
The  deep  estuary  at  the  river's  mouth  divides 
the  Lowlands  into  two  great  peninsulas,  rich  with 
well-kept  farms  and  picturesque  with  copsy  knolls 
and  thickly  wooded  haughs.  To  the  northeast 
there  are  moors  and  fells  rising  toward  the  sea 
to  where  the  lofty  dome  of  Criffel  looks  across  the  Sol  way 
iMrth   to  the  higher  peaks  of  Cumberland. 

The  variety  of  its  natural  beauties  is  fully  c(|ualk'(l  by  the 
lii.st(jric  and  romantic  interests  in  which  the  comitry  aljounds, 
beginning  with  tlic  far-^ff  mytliiral  days  of  Uthcr  Pi'ndr.ignn 
anrl  the  Roman  ()ccuj)ati()n,  coming  down  through  the  Middle 
Ages,  full  of  memories  of  the  romantic  and  warlike  exj)loits  of 
Bruce,  of   the    iJlaek    Douglas,  and   olherb  of   that   f.nnous  f.unily, 

245 


F.Fl-IC.Y    OV    AIlKor, 

CIIAITKR    ItitUSK, 

IH'NDKKNNAN. 


246  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

that  linger  in  tradition  about  the  crumbhng  walls  of  the 
castles  Threave  and   Buittle. 

The  romance  of  later  days  in  the  Stewartry,  fresh  in  the 
minds  of  the  lovers  of  Sir  Walter's  tales,  still  lives  in  the 
castle  of  Carscreugh,  where  wanders  the  spirit  of  the  "  Bride 
of  Lammermoor,"  in  Dirk  Hatterick's  cave  and  the  haunts  of 
"  Old  Mortality."  Poetry,  fiction,  and  history  have  enlivened 
the  whole  region  with  a  glamour  of  associations  richer  per- 
haps than  in  any  district  in  Scotland. 

Of  the  numerous  abbeys  established  in  the  twelfth  century 
between  the  Sol  way  and  the  Frith  of  Clyde  none  is  so  well 
preserved  in  its  architectural  features  nor  so  well  known  in 
history  as  the  abbey  of  Dundrennan. 

Its  site,  like  that  of  all  Cistercian  monasteries,  was  chosen 
with  the  utmost  forethought,  in  a  fertile,  protected  vale  open- 
ing to  the  south  upon  the  Sohvay  Frith  and  watered  by  a 
never-failing  burn.  Above  the  abbey  rises  the  Hill  of  Thorns, 
—  Dun  Drainan,  —  which  gave  the  abbey  its  name.  From 
this  eminence  a  splendid  panorama  is  unfolded  in  all  direc- 
tions. To  the  north  the  view  extends  over  the  moors  to  dis- 
tant heathery  hills;  to  the  east  rises  Criffel,  and  further  down, 
across  the  gleaming  frith,  the  ever-changing  slopes  of  the 
mountains  of  Cumberland  ;  to  the  south  the  sea ;  and  westward 
lie,  beyond  the  Dee  and  Wigtown  Bay,  the  Whithorn  promon- 
tory and  St.   Ninian's  Isle. 


DUNDRENNAN 


247 


Here  Lord  Fergus,  in  1142,  laid  the  foundation  of  a  great 
monastery,  colonizing  it  from  the  ancient  Cistercian  foundation 
in  Rievalle,  Yorkshire.  Silvanus  was  appointed  first  abbot 
and  ruled  for  many  years,  but  it  is  impossible  to  say  how  far 
the  building  of  the  abbey  progressed  under  his  rule. 


A.  Nan. 

B.  Clioir. 

C.  TrmnB«pu. 

D.  OiaiKCT  Una- 
B.  8I;|». 
F.  CtrjtJieT. 
O.  Hulnnl  Crili. 
H.  T.«nl/./f 


PLAN   OK   nUNORENNAN   AIIHKY. 


The  ruin  is  chiefly  in  the  early  transitional  style  with  a 
lareje  pioportioii  of  frankly  Norman  details.  It  is  a])pr()arhed 
from  the  h'tllc  groujj  of  cottages  that  foim  tlic  sc(HKstt-i-e(l 
hamlet,  through  the  original  i)()rtal  of  the  west  front,  which  is 
almost  the  sole  surviving  remnant  of  tin-  nave.  Within  the 
portal   we   see   two   long   rows  of    bases  of    the   columns   of  the 


24S  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

eight-bayed  nave,  and  on  either  side  the  lower  courses  of 
aisle  walls.  Near  the  crossing  the  outer  wall  on  the  north 
preserves  a  bit  of  window  jamb  and  arch,  while  that  to  the 
south  contains  the  jambs  of  a  good  doorway  which  led  to  the 
cloister. 

The  transepts,  extending  three  bays  to  the  right  and  left, 
are  well  preserved.  Each  had  a  vaulted  eastern  aisle,  the 
outer  walls  of  which  are  now  completely  destroyed.  The 
walls  of  the  aisleless  choir  are  brought  forward  across  the  tran- 
sept aisle  to  the  piers  of  the  crossing,  which  were  heavily  reen- 
forced  at  all  four  ani^les  and  consisted  on  the  inner  face  of  a 
fine  cluster  of  slender  shafts  carried  up  two  stories,  not  unlike 
those  supporting  the  tower  arches  of  Kelso,  and  quite  similarly 
capped.  A  considerable  difference  is  noticeable  between  the 
transepts,  the  northern  arm  being  of  rather  better  style.  Both 
are  decidedly  Norman  in  character,  though  all  the  lower 
arches  are  pointed.  In  the  north  transept  the  three  fine 
moulded  arches  on  the  eastern  side  are  supported  by  clustered 
columns  with  capitals  of  late  moulded  Norman  design.  Above 
these  a  well-proportioned  triforium  consists  of  a  blind  arcade 
of  three  groups  of  four  lancet-pointed  arches  of  elegant  compo- 
sition. Behind  this  arcade  is  concealed  the  passage  of  the 
triforium. 

Then  comes  the  clerestory,  of  tall,  round-headed  windows  of 
the  simplest  Norman  style.     The  east  wall  of  the  aisle  has  dis- 


DUNDRENNAN 


249 


appeared,  but  its  northern  wall   preserves  a  good  Norman  win- 
dow, and,  in  the  angle,  an  ascending  vaulting  shaft.     The  north 


LOOKlN<:   AIKOSS   THK   TKANSKITS. 

/'torn  Point  y  on  J'hin. 


wall  is  plain  on  the  ground  story,  hmkcn  onlv  by  a  doorway 
of  later  cutting.  y\t  the  triforiuni  1c\l'1  arc  two  fine,  deeply 
splayed  Nf)rnian  windows  risinnr  through  two  stories.  The 
mouldings    of    their    arches    are    supported     at     the    jambs     by 


250  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 

slender  shafts  and  each  is  embraced  by  a  broad  wall  arch, 
similarly  supported  at  the  angles  of  the  transept,  and  by  a 
cluster  of  shafts  between  the  windows.  On  either  side  of  the 
windows  are  seen  the  openings  in  the  wall  where  passes  the 
triforium  passage. 

The  gable  is  pierced  by  two  pointed  windows.  The  west- 
ern wall  of  this  arm  of  the  transept  has  but  two  stories  of 
large  simple  Norman  openings.  The  triforium  passage  here 
maintains  the  same  level  in  the  wall.  In  the  south  transept 
the  main  arcade  is  quite  similar  to  that  of  the  north,  but  the 
mouldings  are  flatter  and  the  clusters  of  columns  are  not  com- 
posed with  equal  skill.  A  complete  change  was  made  in  the 
triforium,  where  there  are  two  open,  coupled  arches  of  pointed 
style  separated  by  a  heavy  pier  above  each  of  the  main  arches. 
This  arcade  is  not  nearly  so  light  nor  so  well  designed  as  that 
of  the  opposite  arm. 

The  clerestory  is  simply  Norman  again  and  the  evidence  of 
aisle  vaults  is  of  early  pointed  type,  showing  this  church  to 
have  been,  like  the  transitional  edifices  of  England  and  France, 
Gothic  in  the  principles  of  interior  construction  and  design, 
but  frankly  Romanesque  in  outward  appearance.  The  south- 
ern and  western  walls  of  this  transept  are  missing,  but  they 
were  doubtless  similar  to  those  of  the  opposite  arm.  The 
choir  was  by  all  odds  the  plainest  portion  of  the  edifice.  Its 
eastern    end    has   perished,   but    the    side   walls   show    that    this 


DUNDRENNAN  25 1 

portion  of  the  abbey  was  aisleless  and  had  heavy  unbroken 
walls  in  the  first  story.  In  later  days  a  doorway  was  cut  on 
either  side  into  the  transept  aisle,  which  must  have  been 
divided  nominally  into  chapels  with  separate  altars.  From 
the  triforium  level  tall  Norman  windows  like  those  in  the  tran- 
sept extend  to  the  top  of  the  wall.  There  is  every  appear- 
ance of  the  choir  having  been  vaulted  in  cross-vaults  at  a 
very  early  period,  provision  for  the  support  of  ribs  being  made 
in  groups  of  shafts  stopped  by  corbels  at  the  triforium  string- 
course. 

The  quadrangle  of  the  cloister  is  intact;  the  buildings 
on  the  east  are  totally  destroyed,  but  for  the  chapter  house. 
Next  the  church  was  the  slype,  now  completely  ruined ;  then 
comes  the  chapter  house,  which,  from  existing  remains,  would 
seem  to  have  been  the  largest  in  the  realm.  Within  are 
found  bases  of  six  clustered  columns  which  prove  that  there 
were  twelve  vault  comj^artments.  The  fa9ade,  with  its  broad 
doorway  flanked  by  coupled  pointed  openings,  is  a  beautiful 
example  of  work  of  the  richest  decorated  period.  The  pointed 
arch  of  the  central  o]){'iiing  is  jiroxidcd  with  an  exceedingly 
rich  set  of  Hne  mouldings,  which  are  repeated  in  wall  arches 
on  either  side  al)ove  the  windows,  'ihe  main  aicli  is  cusped 
to  cincjuefoil  form  and  its  recessed  mouldings  are  su])j)()rted 
by  sets  of  cou|)led  sliafts  with  simple  moulded  ea])s.  'ihe 
outer   arches    rest    on  siir'le    nook    shafts.       1  he    windows,   which 


252  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 

were  always  open,  consist  each  of  two  pointed  arches  embraced 
by  a  broader  moulded  arch,  also  pointed.  The  shafts  which 
separated  the  sub-order  of  arches  have  been  lost,  but  the  colo- 
nettes  at  the  sides  are  represented  by  their  bases  and  caps. 
These,  with  the  rich  arch  and  jamb  mouldings  and  the  carved 
design  above  the  smaller  arches,  are  sufificient  to  show  the 
elegance  of  the  original  design.  The  embracing  arch  of  the 
windows  have  label  mouldings  of  great  beauty.  The  end  of 
one  preserves  a  loop  which  marked  its  termination,  a  motive 
of  decoration  of  Oriental  origin  doubtless  imported  by  crusad- 
ing monks.  The  jambs  are  ornamented  with  mouldings  of 
nail-head  and  other  patterns  peculiar  to  the  richest  period  of 
pointed  style. 

The  southern  limit  of  the  cloister  is  marked  by  a  simple 
improvised  wall,  but  the  western  side  consists  of  a  series  of 
six  vaulted  cells,  above  which  was  one  of  the  main  halls  of 
the  monastery,  either  fratry  or  dormitory.  A  number  of  in- 
teresting tombs  are  scattered  about  the  church  and  abbey  build- 
ings. One,  that  of  Allan,  Lord  of  Galloway,  who  married  a 
granddaughter  of  David  I.  and  who  died  about  1250,  enshrines 
a  well-executed  effigy  in  full  armour,  now  much  mutilated,  and 
called  for  centuries  the  "  Belted  Knight."  This  tomb  niche  is 
in  the  north  wall  of  the  transept  aisle  and  has  been  much 
exposed  to  the  weather.  A  better  preserved  sepulchral  figure 
is    one    in    the    chapter    house.      It    is    that    of    an    ecclesiastic 


m^i.. 


^ 


< 


3 

D 


X 
O 


o 
u. 


2  54  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

of  high  rank,  presumably  an  abbot,  bearing  his  crosier  over 
breast  and  shoulder.  His  feet  rest  upon  a  curious  figure 
of  human  shape,  in  frightful  contortions  and  stabbed  with  some 
weapon. 

It  has  long  been  a  disputed  question  whether  King  David  I. 
or  Fergus,  Lord  of  Galloway,  was  the  real  founder  of  the  abbey 
of  Dundrennan.  Fordun  in  his  "  Scotichronicon,"  written  in 
13S5,  names  the  king,  while  Spottiswood,  in  1655,  declares  that 
the  earl  was  founder.  It  is  well  known  that  Uavid  was  a 
large  benefactor  of  the  abbey,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  how  read- 
ily so  pious  a  prince  might  be  considered  the  founder  of  this 
as  well  as  many  other  abbeys.  Such  an  error  long  prevailed 
regarding  the  founding  of  Dryburgh,  until  archaeologists  found 
out  the  true  founder.  But  of  Dundrennan  there  is  no  chroni- 
cle, and  it  is  thus  impossible  to  decide  with  absolute  certainty. 
For  many  centuries  the  abbots  of  Dundrennan  were  appointed 
by  the  king  instead  of  the  Pope,  and  this  fact  may  have 
helped  to  mislead  early  writers. 

Hardly  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  years  could  have  elapsed 
between  the  founding  of  the  abbey  and  its  completion,  if  we 
judge  from  the  style  and  structure  of  the  church  edifice. 

The  domestic  buildino^s  suffered  during:  Kins:  Edward's 
wars  and  were  restored  in  the  sumptuous  style  of  which  we 
have    an    example    in    the    chapter    house.      The   extent  of    this 


DUNDRENNAN 


255 


building  would  argue  for  the  great  number  of  the  abbey's  in- 
mates at  the  time  of  its  building;  for  there  is  no  better  indi- 
cator of  the  size  of  the  chapter  of  a  monastery  at  a  given  time 
than  its  chapter  house.  We  have  frequent  examples  of  the 
enlarging  of  a  chapter  house  when  the  number  of  canons  had 
outgrown  the  original  building,  as  at  Dryburgh,  and  cases 
where  a  chapter  house  has  been  rebuilt,  inferior  in  comparative 
size  and  style  to  the  church  edifice,  where  the  chapter  had  be- 
come reduced,  as  at  Kilwinning. 

The  abbey  seems  to  have  flourished  richly  until  Reformation 
times,  and  to  its  shelter  and  sanctuary  fled  the  hapless  Queen 
Mary  after  the  disheartening  defeat  at  Langside  by  the  Regent 
Murray.  The  monks  received  the  unfortunate  queen  and  un- 
doubtedly would  have  died  in  her  defence  had  her  enemies  fol- 
lowed her  and  laid  siege  to  the  abbey.  Here  the  queen  spent 
her  last  night  in  the  ancient  realm  of  her  ancestors,  and  llic 
following  morning  before  daybreak  was  escorted  to  the  sea- 
shore at  a  point  some  two  miles  away,  where  a  boat  was  wait- 
ing to  convey  her  to  the  j)n)tecti()n  of  her  cousin.  The  spot 
where  she  embarked   has  ever  since   been   known  as   I'ort   Mary. 

I  would  advise  a  visitor  to  Diindrennan  to  walk  ihe  six- 
miles  from  Kirkcudbright.  Two  roads  lead  to  the  abbey;  one 
over  the  hills  with  splendid  views,  the  other  along  the  bay  for 
some  distance  and  then  acro.ss  the  peninsula.  l)olh  abound  in 
interest,    and    give    the    pedestrian     a    charming     impression     of 


2S6 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


this  lovely  district  of  the  Scottish  country.  But  I  would 
warn  liini  against  choosing  the  first  day  of  the  week  for  the 
excursion.  My  first  visit  was  made  upon  a  lovely  Scottish 
Sabbath,   and    after   my  invigorating  walk    of   six    miles,    I   met 


'■J 


w^: 


THK   AHi;kV    tRoM     I  HE    "  CROWN    AND    ANCHOR." 

with  the  chagrin  of  being  denied  admission  and  receiving  a 
strong  rebuke,  as  I  could  not  name  a  relative  buried  within 
the  abbey  precinct  and  enrolled  upon  the  sexton's  register.  So 
I  crossed  the  abbey  burn  and  ascended  the  hill  on  the  other 
side,  where  I  had  a  superb  view  of  the  ruin  and  its  lovely 
situation. 


DUNDRENNAN  257 

On  the  occasion  of  my  next  visit  it  rained  somewhat  harder 
than  it  is  wont  to  do  in  Scotland,  and  I  had  to  content  myself 
with  making  a  sketch  from  a  window  of  the  "  Crown  and 
Anchor."  It  was  not  until  the  third  time  that  I  could  really 
enjoy  the  beauties  of  the  ruin  and  make  a  few  sketches  in 
peace. 


CHAPTER   XVII 


LINCLUDEN 


lii'l'i'iiiiii^' .  j  > 


Beside  the  shady  banks  of  the  river  Nith,  where  it  is  joined 
by  the  waters  of  Cluden,  upon  a  point  of  land  almost  isolated 

by  the  curves  of  the  two  streams,  stands 
the  ruin  of  Lincluden  Abbey.  No  site 
in  all  Scotland  is  more  fair;  no  ruin  is 
more  graceful.  The  abbey  was  not  one 
of  the  more  extensive  settlements  of  the 
Kingdom,  and  its  ruins  do  not  cover  a 
wide  area ;  but  for  some  reason,  hard  to 
explain,  this  abbey,  though  much  de- 
stroyed, carries  one  back  into  the  Middle 
Ages  as  few  other  ruins  do.  The  situa- 
tion can  have  changed  but  little  since 
the  days  when  the  cloistered  inmates 
spent  their  placid  lives  within  the  abbey's  enclosure ;  the  rivers 
have  not  altered,  and  the  smooth  green  of  the  haugh  could 
scarcely  have  been  more  green  or  smooth. 

The  cloisters  lay  to  the  north  of  the   church,  while   on   the 
southern  side  we   find  a  carefully  graded  knoll,  partly  natural, 

258 


PISCINA     FROM   CHOIR   OF 
LINCLUDEN. 


LINCLUDEN 


259 


partly  artificial,  with  even  terraces  easily  discerned  upon  its 
regular  slope  and  tall  trees  growing  at  quite  regular  intervals 
upon  them.  This  was  unquestionably  erected  as  a  Calvary,  at 
the  time  of  the  original  founding  of  the  abbey,  and  had  its 
crucifix  at  the  summit,  toward  which  the  nuns  ascended  by  slow 
degrees  with  many  a  prayer 
and  pater  iioster,  as  the  Scala 
Saiicta  is  ascended  to-day. 
This  is  one  of  the  few  Cal- 
vary s  to  be  found  in  Great 
Britain ;  in  France  they  are 
the  common  adjunct  of  mon- 
asteries, but  if  many  existed 
in  Britain  they  ha\c  long 
since  disappeared. 

The  ruins,  which  arc 
chiefly  in  the  decorated  style 
of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  consist  of  the  south 
wall  of  the  nave  and  the  south  transept  with  the  choir,  loof- 
less,  but  otherwise  well  j^reserved ;  a  diminutive  sacristy  adja- 
cent to  the  chc)ir  on  the  north  and  a  Ioiil;  langc  of  \aulted 
cellars,  extending  iKotliuaid,  substructures  of  tlic  n)orr  iiii])or- 
tant  monastic  edifices,  and,  at  the  rnd  of  the  range,  a  tower- 
like castellated  structure,  believed  to  have  been  the  house  of 
the  su])erior. 


M^ —  --^ 

O^ 

L 

EBm 

'.'[>'  1 

r..  B. .... 

■ 

0 

1 

l—^ 

F 

c.  ' 

A.   NiTO. 

/T4! 

r 

D.    Choir. 

'  ; 

-#■ 

C.    Traiwopt. 

i 

D.    8i,cri»lj. 

i_ 

£.    Vaults  CliapcU. 

■1^ 

F.    C|i)iatpr. 

w~ 

0.  Toint)  of  Fouiidrcsfl. 

1 1 

pijvn  ok  lincludkn  abbey. 


2  6o  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 

To  east  and  west  of  these  buildings  there  appear  to  have 
been  two  courtyards :  that  adjoining  the  nave  extending  to  the 
very  river's  brink  and  now  completely  destroyed;  the  other 
seems  to  have  been  more  extensive,  for  the  foundations  of  walls, 
forming  a  perfect  quadrangle,  are  plainly  recognized  in  mounds 
of  green  turf. 

The  abbey  was  founded  as  a  convent  for  Benedictine  nuns 
about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  by  Uchtred,  son  of 
the  great  Earl  Fergus  who  founded  so  many  monasteries  in 
other  parts  of  ancient  Galloway.  Almost  no  portions  of  the 
original  structure  can  be  found  among  the  ruins,  although 
quite  recent  excavations  have  revealed  foundations  and  broken 
details  of  undoubted  Norman  date.  These  are  suflficient  to 
show  that  the  present  church  was  erected  on  substantially  the 
same  lines  as  the  older  one,  and  that  the  western  doorway, 
which  seems  to  have  survived  the  rebuilding,  was  a  Norman 
recessed  arch  of  several  orders. 

The  sisters  of  the  black  habit  seem  to  have  occupied  this 
lovely  site  for  upward  of  two  hundred  years,  undisturbed,  un- 
molested in  their  simple,  secluded  life,  until  Archibald,  Earl  of 
Douglas,  called  the  "  Grim,"  a  descendant  and  successor  to  the 
titles  of  the  old  Lords  of  Galloway,  discovered  reasons  for  dis- 
placing the  sisterhood,  assigning  "insolence"  on  their  part  as 
his  reason,  though  it  is  understood  that  he  acquired  large  land 
tenures  by  suppressing  the  convent.     The  grim  Archibald  never- 


LINCLUDEN  26 1 

theless  not  only  set  up  a  new  establishment  on  the  old  founda- 
tion, so  long  held  by  the  sisterhood,  but  rebuilt  the  convent 
in  new  and  sumptuous  style.  He  now  founded  a  collegiate 
institution  with  a  provost  and  twelve  canons,  and  made  new 
endowments  of  considerable  extent. 

The  first  provost,  Elias,  was  appointed  in  1404.  Under  him 
the  church  was  begun  and  changes  were  made  in  the  domestic 
buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  the  canons.  Under  Provost 
Cairns,  the  successor  of  Elias,  the  number  of  inmates  was 
swelled  by  the  admission  of  twenty-four  bedesmen  and  a 
chaplain.  From  this  period  the  history  of  the  abbey  is  inti- 
mately associated  with  the  house  of  Douglas.  The  earls  made 
Lincluden  a  frequent  residence  and  enriched  the  abbey  more 
and  more.  Archibald,  fourth  Earl  of  Douglas,  son  of  Archi- 
bald the  Grim,  made  it  the  object  of  his  pious  liberality,  and 
his  arms  are  found  emblazoned  in  several  j)arts  of  the  church. 
This  noble  crossed  the  channel  with  a  lartje  retinue  to  aid 
Charles  VII.,  and  was  created  Duke  of  Touraine  by  the  French 
monarch  for  his  gallant  services.  In  1424  he  was  slain  in  tlu- 
fierce  battle  of  Vcrncuil.  'I'hc  story  of  these  French  honours, 
won  by  Lord  Douglas,  is  told  in  simple  language  by  the 
carven  stones  of  the  abbey:  a  lovely  coibcl  in  the  tlioir,  bear- 
ing the  device  of  three  flenrs-de-lis  under  a  ducal  crown  suj)- 
ported  by  two  rami)ant  lions,  serves  as  a  cha|)ter  in  history. 
A    peculiar    interest    and    great    historic  value    attaches    to    the 


262 


SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 


style  of  architecture  introduced  extensively  in  the  early  fifteenth 
century,  when  heraldic  emblems  were  employed  as  decorative 
devices.  These  not  only  indicate  the  connection  of  certain 
noble    families    with    the    buildings    where    they    are    found,   but 


THE   ABBEY   FROM    CLUDEN    WATER. 


wherever  they  appear  they  are  like  a  seal  upon  the  surround- 
ing architecture,  and  by  the  science  of  heraldry  we  are  enabled 
to  fix  its  date.  In  the  heraldic  symbols  of  Lincluden  we  may 
read  the  changing  history  of  the  house  of  Douglas,  their  acqui- 
sition, by  inheritance  or  by  marriage,  of  the  titles  of  Galloway^ 
Annandale,  and  far-away  Moray. 


LINCLUDEN 


263 


The  human  heart,  which  was  added  to  the  stars  of  the 
Douglas  arms  after  the  death  of  Bruce  and  the  romantic  mis- 
sion of  the  Good  Sir  James,  is  to  be  found  in  many  a  corbel, 
keystone,  and  carved  bracket  of  Lincluden's  walls.  The  em- 
blems of  the  royal  house  of  Stuart 
traced  upon  one  prominent  shield 
show  that  a  Douglas  aspired  to  royal 
alliance.  Thus  the  ancient  ruin  is 
given  a  language  of  its  own  which 
those  versed  in  blazonry  can  readily 
understand,  and  a  double  interest 
is  added  to  each  bit  of  detail. 

The  second  Earl  Archibald  it 
was  who  brought  the  royal  arms 
to  Lincluden  by  his  marriage  with 
the  Princess  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Robert  III.  The  countess  en- 
dowed the  Cf)llege  with  extensive 
grants  in  1429  in  memory  of  her 
husband,  slain  far  away  in  France, 
and  erected  a  cha])cl  to  the  Good  Sir  James  in  the  south 
transept.  In  consequence  of  these  gifts  the  numbir  of  inmates 
was  more  than  doubled  and  more  elaborate  ))lans  were  made  for 
beautifying  the  church.  In  1440  the  (onntcss  died  and  a  gor- 
geous tomb  was  erected  for  her  on  the  north  side  of  the  choir. 


THK    CAI.VAKY    SF.KN    TIIKorr.H    WIN'DnW 
IN   CIIAI'KI,    tlK   Till".    (;<M)|l    SIR    JAMKS 

DOUGLAS,     /-'rom  Point  4  on  J'/iin. 


264  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

Under  Provost  Haliburton,  appointed  1430,  the  choir  was 
well  under  way ;  for  his  arms  are  found  well  up  on  the  south 
wall.  The  work  was  certainly  beautifully  designed  and  most 
skilfully  executed.  The  choir  is  not  a  large  structure,  scarcely 
exceeding  fifty  feet  by  thirty,  and  aisleless. 

It  was  divided  into  three  bays,  and  was  cut  off  from  the 
nave  by  a  high  screen  pierced  with  a  flat-arched  doorway. 
The  east  end  contained  a  spacious  window,  traceried  in  rich 
decorated  fashion.  Each  bay  was  lighted  on  the  south  by  a 
fine  broad  window  with  tracery  similar  to  that  over  the  high 
altar.  On  the  north  the  window  of  the  eastern  bay  is  partly 
closed  by  the  tomb  of  the  benefactress,  and  those  above  the 
building  that  stood  over  the  sacristy  are  of  the  equilateral 
triangle  form  seen  at  Beauly  and  Pluscarden.  A  broad 
moulded  arch  supported  by  clustered  columns  divides  the 
choir  and  nave  above  the  screen,  and  an  arched  doorway, 
richly  moulded,  leads  from  choir  to  sacristy. 

That  the  choir  was  vaulted  upon  an  intricate  system  of  ribs 
is  very  evident  from  the  copious  remnants  of  springers  and 
the  clustered  vault  shafts,  with  their  rich  caps,  brought  down 
a  considerable  distance  and  stopped  with  bases  upon  highly 
ornate  corbels ;  but  the  singular  feature  was  the  undoubted 
use  of  a  simple  pointed  barrel  vault  above  that  of  English 
decorated  type.  This,  it  has  been  suggested,  was  built  to 
protect    the   lower   structure    and    to    carry   a    gabled    roof    of 


LINCLUDEN 


265 


ponderous  flagstones  like  those  in  the  early  churches  of 
Auvergne  and  that  which  now  covers  the  nave  of  Melrose. 
Between  these  sets 
of  vaults  was  an 
apartment  lighted  at 
the  eastern  end  by 
a  small  window  par- 
tially preserved. 

The  decoration  of 
the  choir  within  and 
without  is  both  rich 
and  refined.  The 
details  are  executed 
on  rather  large  scale 
and  thus  diminish 
the  apparent  size  of 
the  edifice;  but  shaft 
and  rib,  cap  and  cor- 
bel, base-mould  and 
cornice,  are  executed 
with  a  degree  of  j)er- 
fection    seldom    seen 


f 


i\ 


I  \  h,. 


«,;<■' 


1i>Ml:    01      nil     l-dlNliKI'SS    IN     IIII.    t  l|ii||<,     \Nli    l""iK\VAV     l< 
SACKIsrV.       I'loiil    I'oiul  J    OH     I'tilll. 


so    far    north.       The 

door  leading  to  the   sacristy  is    lu-avily  enriclu-d    with    a   foliate 

band     between     the     two     chief     mouldings     of      the     arch,    and 


266  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

carried  down  between  the  two  colonettes  on  either  side.  The 
arch  is  filled  with  a  carved  tympanum  adorned  with  the  heraldic 
shields  of  Archibald  the  Grim  and  his  countess.  On  the 
south  side  of  the  choir  a  lovely  triple  sedilia  attracts  attention 
by  its  sculptured  enrichments,  and  an  exquisite  piscina  adjoin- 
ing the  altar  is  one  of  the  most  chaste  and  beautiful  speci- 
mens of  delicate  decorated  detail  in  Great  Britain.  Three  low 
corbels  projecting  from  the  wall  behind  the  site  of  the  high 
altar  appear  to  have  supported  an  elaborately  carved  reredos, 
fragments  of  which  have  been  brought  to  light  in  recent 
excavations. 

But  the  gem  of  the  abbey's  sculptured  details  is  the  superb 
tomb  of  the  Countess  Margaret  in  the  north  wall,  —  a  deep 
semicircular  niche,  adorned  above  by  a  heavy  canopy  of  an 
ogee  moulding  rich  with  crockets  and  finial,  on  either  side  a 
slender  ornamental  buttress  with  an  acute  carved  pinnacle. 
Between  the  tops  of  the  pinnacles,  on  a  line  with  the  finial  of 
the  ogee  moulding,  runs  a  rich  foliate  moulding  and  the  wall 
surface  included  beneath  it  and  between  the  little  buttresses  is 
panelled  in  delicate  cusped  arches. 

The  arch  of  the  niche  is  very  elaborately  designed  with 
an  ornate  band  of  intricate  foliage  between  its  chief  mouldinu^s 
and  carried  down  between  the  minute  colonettes  that  support 
them  on  either  side.  Within  the  arch  a  rich  cusping  of 
elaborate  carving  broke   up   the   roundness  of   the  curve  into  a 


LINCLUDEN  267 

series  of  small  segments  and  added  greatly  to  the  sumptuous 
effect. 

The  bottom  of  the  niche  consists  of  a  broad,  flat  shelf 
which  projected  several  inches  from  the  wall  surface.  Upon 
this  reposed  the  sculptured  figure  of  the  countess.  This  shelf 
formed  the  cover  of  a  large  sarcophagus,  which  also  projected 
into  the  choir,  bearing  on  its  sides,  in  stately  design,  a  row  of 
nine  armorial  shields,  each  beneath  its  trefoil  arch.  The  tomb 
was  rifled  and  the  effigy  of  the  countess  was  torn  from  its 
place  and  ruthlessly  destroyed  centuries  ago;  but  the  present 
proprietors  have  restored  the  figure  and  the  broken  portions 
of  the  tomb  from  existing  fragments. 

None  of  the  tombs  of  the  Douglases  at  the  famous  little 
church  of  St.  Bride's,  in  the  upper  ward  of  Lanarkshire,  can 
comi:)are  with  this  for  richness  or  dignity  of  design,  and  few 
in  all  Scotland  are  more  beautiful  ;  when  comj)lete  in  all  its 
parts  and  brilliant  with  gold  and  colour,  it  must  ha\e  been  a 
gorgeous  feature  of  the  little  choir. 

In  the  opposite  wall  of  the  choir  the  triple  sedilia  of  exquisite 
workmanship,  though  now  sadly  mutilaled,  is  a  fine  exanij)!!.' 
of  nftcenth-ccnlury  carving,  while  the  screen  at  the  west  vnd 
of  the  choir  is  of  particular  interest  from  (his  |)oin(  of  view. 
The  screen  is  a  solidly  built  stiiK  turi-  with  a  low,  flat-arched 
doorway;  its  summit  is  reached  by  a  s])iral  stair.  The  deco- 
ration  is  conlined    to    the   u]jj;er  poititnis,  a   heavy,   overhanging 


26S 


SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABBEYS 


cornice  richly  adorned  with  foliate  bands  and  sculptured  figures 
of  anoels  in  attitudes  of  adoration.  Below  the  cornice  a  frieze 
in  relief,  now  greatly  defaced,  seems  to  have  represented  scenes 
from  sacred  history. 

The  sculpture  of  the  south  transept  and  the  fragment  of 
the  nave  still  preserved  consists  of  angel  figures  carved  in  the 
corbels  of  the  vault  ribs.  The  mouldings  of  the  exterior  are 
of  elegant  design  and  of  the  large  scale  prevalent  in  this 
edifice. 

Lincluden  is  only  a  mile  from  Dumfries.  It  is  a  lovely 
walk  from  the  town  to  the  ruin,  along  the  banks  of  the  Nith, 
amid  green  pastures  where  peaceful  cattle  graze,  then  skirting 
fields  of  grain,  it  passes  into  the  welcome  shade  of  splendid  old 
trees,  and  rounding  the  Calvary  hill,  comes  upon  the  most  lovely 
of  ruins,  so  far  as  its  site  is  concerned,  in  all  North  Britain. 


CORBEL   IN   CHOIR, 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

SWEETHEART   ABBEY 

The  last  of  the  house  of  the  Lords  of  Galloway  to  establish 
a  religious  institution  in  Scotland  was  a  daughter  of  Lord  Allan 
whose  tomb  we  have  seen  at  Dundrennan,  Devorgilla,  mother 
of  King  John  Baliol  and  foundress  of  Baliol  College,  Oxford. 
Though  the  founding  of  Baliol  College  was  in  direct  execution 
of  her  husband's  will,  this  gracious  lady,  who  is  said  to  have 
been  the  richest  subject  of  her  time  in  either  kingdom,  was 
famous  for  her  benefactions  in  England  and  Scotland.  At 
nineteen  Devorgilla  had  married  John  Baliol  of  Castle  Bernard, 
Yorkshire,  and  after  forty  years  of  married  life  had  become 
a  widow,  inheriting  from  her  husl)and  large  estates  in  iLngland. 
I>y  the  death  -cjf  all  the  heirs  of  lu-r  father,  she  came  into 
possession  of  all  the  lordship  he  had  lu-ld,  so  that  it  is  not 
diffirult   to  believe   the   story  of  her  vast  wealth. 

Iiilu'fitiiig  furthrr,  to  some  extent,  the  (lis])().sition  of  her 
great  ancestor  I)a\i(l  I.  of  loyal  line,  I  )t'Vorgilla,  from  her  ample 
means,  erected  and  ciuiowcd  (oiucnts  throughout  her  broad 
domain:    one    for    TVanciscan    friars   at    1  )umfries,   one    for    Uo- 

269 


270  SCOTLAND'S    RUINED   ABBEYS 

minicans  at  Wigtown,  and  another  for  Franciscans  at  Dundee. 
She  founded  a  monastery  at  Holywood  on  the  Nith,  restored 
and  extended  the  great  abbey  of  Dundrennan,  besides  estab- 
lishing the  "  new  abbey,"  the  Sweetheart  Abbey  of  this  chapter. 

The  story  of  the  founding  of  this  abbey  is  most  romantic 
and  quite  unhke  the  prosaic  church  foundings  of  King  David  I., 
or  of  later  sovereigns  and  subjects  who  were  simply  perform- 
ing a  perfunctory  and  formal  act  of  piety.  Of  such  a  character 
were  Devorgilla's  other  pious  acts  of  convent  building,  but  in 
the  founding  of  the  new  abbey  there  is  a  touch  of  pathos  and 
romance  that  is  quite  refreshing. 

After  her  husband's  death  the  disconsolate  Devorgilla  had 
his  heart  embalmed  and  placed  in  an  ivory  casket,  which  she 
made  her  constant  companion.  The  "  Sweet-heart,"  as  she 
called  it,  travelled  with  her  upon  her  journeys  between  Gallo- 
way and  her  Yorkshire  estates,  and  doubtless  journeyed  to 
Oxford  with   the  devoted   widow. 

But  as  time  passed  and  age  began  to  warn  the  countess 
that  she  must  soon  follow  her  beloved  spouse,  she  resolved  to 
build  a  monument  worthy  of  their  loves,  a  resting-place  for 
herself  and  the  cherished  relic.  A  great  abbey,  she  thought, 
would  be  a  fitting  monument  of  their  devotion,  where  she  her- 
self might  lie,  when  death  should  call  her  too,  with  the  heart 
upon  her  heart.  This  was  the  end  for  which  she  undertook 
to  erect  a  great  church,  under  the  high  altar  of  which  she  and 


SWEETHEART  ABBEY 


271 


her  "  Sweet-heart "  might  sleep  the  long  sleep ;  this  gave  reason 
for  the  name  that,  from  the  first,  was  given  to  the  new  abbey. 

The  epithet  new  was  applied  to  the  abbey  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  Dundrennan,  which  had  been  built  a  hundred  years 
before  and  which  was  now  called  the  "  Old  Abbey."  The 
other  appellation  was  variously  corrupted,  and  we  find  Duz 
Quer,  Douce  Coeur,  and  Uulce  Cor  in  old  records,  and  an  old 

rhymer  sings :  — 

"  In  Dulcecorde  Abbey 
She  taketh  her  rest 
With  the  heart  of  her  husband 
Embahiied  in  her  breast." 

In  1275,  according  to  Fordun,  the  first  endowments  were 
made  for  the  abbey  and  directly  work  was  begun  u]X)n  the 
church  and  buildings.  A  colony  of  twelve  Cistercian  nu)nks 
was  established  in  the  same  year  and  Henry  was  made  first 
abbot.  Within  nine  years  from  its  founding,  the  abl)ey  seenis 
to  lu'ivc  IjL'cn  well  under  way  and  a  j)ortion,  at  least,  was  dedi- 
cated ;  for  some  sixty  years  ago,  among  the  ruins,  a  stone  was 
found  that  had  been  used  in  the  sui)erstructure,  bearing  tlie 
inscription  :  — 


DEVORGILLA, 

FUNDATRIX    HUJUS    MONA, 

MCCLXXXIIII. 


272  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

In  1289  Abbot  Henry  started  on  a  journey  to  the  mother 
house  of  the  Cistercian  order  at  Citeaux  in  France,  and  died 
on  the  way,  and  in  the  same  year  the  foundress  of  the  abbey 
ended  her  long  labours  for  charity  and  the  church  in  the  Vill 
de  Kempstone,  and  was  laid  in  the  choir  of  her  church,  before 
the  high  altar,  with  her  husband's  heart  pressed  close  to  her 
own.  Upon  their  tomb  was  inscribed  an  elegy  written  for 
Devorgilla  by  the  prior  of  Lanercroft :  — 

"  In  Devorgil,  a  sybil  sage  doth  dye,  as 
Mary  contemplative,  as  Martha  pious  ; 
To  her,  O  !   deign,  High  King  !    rest  to  impart 
Whom  this  stone  covers,  with  her  husband's  heart." 

The  second  abbot,  Ericus,  lived  but  six  years  after  his 
consecration,  but  under  him  considerable  work  must  have  been 
accomplished ;  for  under  his  successor  building  activity  must 
have  come  to  a  standstill,  as  it  did  everywhere  in  Scotland 
after  Edward  I.  had  begun  his  invasion.  Abbot  John  was, 
indeed,  more  deeply  concerned  with  matters  political  and  with 
saving  the  abbey  and  its  lands  from  the  invaders  than  with 
extending  or  beautifying  its  buildings.  Immediately  upon  his 
appointment  Abbot  John  renounced  his  allegiance  to  the 
French  Crown  and  swore  fealty  to  the  English  sovereign;  the 
lands  which  had  been  taken  from  the  abbey  were  then  restored. 
He  sat  in  the  parliament  that  chose   Edward   as   arbitrator  be- 


SWEETHEART   ABBEY  273 

tweeti  Bruce  and  Baliol  and  naturally  sympathized  with  the 
king's  favourite. 

Four  years  later  Edward  had  again  crossed  the  Scottish 
border  and  Pope  Boniface  VIII.  had  sent  a  bull  to  England 
asserting  the  independence  of  Scotland  except  so  far  as  the 
Holy  See  was  concerned.  Robert  Winchelsea,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  received  this  dictum  of  papal  authority  and  set  out 
to  find  the  king.  The  archbishop  was  detained  for  some  time 
at  Carlisle,  but  finally  journeyed  on  to  Ncwabbey,  where  he 
overtook  his  Majesty  giving  thanks  in  the  church  for  his  vic- 
tory at  Cacrlaverock  Castle.  Then  foUow^ed  the  famous  inter- 
view. 

The  names  of  the  abbots  who  ruled  the  monastery  during 
the  fourteenth  century  have  been  lost  to  memory,  though 
after  the  war  of  independence  extensive  work  was  carried  out 
upon  the  church  edifice.  And  all  seems  to  have  been  com- 
jjleted  by  i3<Si,  when  the  abbey  had  become  sliort  of  funds 
and  had  suffered  a  catastr{)i)he  from  lightning.  At  (his  time 
we  find  the  monks  appealing  for  assistance  and  the  Bishoj)  of 
Galloway  granting  fresh  revenues  to  the  abbey  for  repairs.  In 
the  next  century  the  names  of  two  abbots,  Thomas  and  Will- 
iam, apj)ear,  but  the  history  of  the  abbey  is  very  obscure 
during   that   j)eriod. 

Abbot  Robert  began  the  sixteenth  rentury,  and  the  abbacies 
of    two  famous  men,  John    and    (filbert    Brown,  extend  over  its 

T 


2  74  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED   ABBEYS 

latter  half.  These  two  were  staunch  supporters  of  the  waning 
power  of  Rome  in  Scotland.  Gilbert,  the  last  abbot,  fought 
hard  to  hold  the  southwest  to  the  old  faith  and  had  many 
friends  and  faithful  followers ;  but  he  was  finally  condemned 
as  a  Jesuit  and  a  rebel,  and  banished.  He  was  the  prototype 
of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  "  Abbot."  During  the  Reformation  the 
Privy  Council  commanded  Lord  Herries,  the  friend  of  Queen 
Mary,  to  lay  waste  the  abbey  and  its  dependencies,  but  his 
Lordship  refused,  we  are  told,  because  he  had  been  educated 
within  the  abbey's  walls  and  loved  it  too  well  to  be  the  instru- 
ment of  its  destruction.  So  the  abbey  was  spared  assault  and 
the  wracking  effects  of  gunpowder,  and  came  to  its  state  of 
ruin  by  a  process  of  gradual  decay.  At  the  time  of  the  Refor- 
mation the  abbey  was  feued  to  Lord  Maxwell,  but  eventually 
was  vested  in  the  Crown.  It  then  changed  from  hand  to  hand, 
suffering  more  and  more  from  natural  decay  and  local  vandal- 
ism. Little  by  little  the  more  exposed  portions  of  the  church 
fell  in,  and  the  vaults  of  the  aisles  collapsed,  while  the  abbey 
buildings  disappeared  almost  to  a  stone.  It  is  about  a  century 
since  the  first  steps  were  taken  to  preserve  the  ruin.  A  num- 
ber of  persons  succeeded  in  arousing  suflficient  interest  to  meet 
the  immediate  needs  of  the  fast-crumblinor  walls. 

In  later  years  the  present  proprietors  have  expended  much 
care  and  many  hundred  pounds  to  save  this  fine  monument 
from  further  decay. 


SWEETHEART   ABBEY 


275 


The  site  of  Sweetheart  Abbey  is  one  of  particular  charm. 
Like  so  many  abbeys  of  the  Cistercian  order,  it  stands  on  the 
sheltered  side  of  a  range  of  wooded  hills,  in  the  midst  of  smooth 
fields,  the  Pow  Burn  running  through  its  precinct,  to  the  bay 
at  the   mouth   of  the   Nith   only  a  short  mile  away.     Thus  we 


)^ 


*ii< 


..••-'  •• 


...v^^-.-'*  y"^'*^.i,-^-Ji —  .  - 


,.  '.* 


S\VKETHF.ART   AHHKY    IKOM    TlIK    I  IKI.PS   TO   THE    NORTHKAST. 

have  the  usual  settino;  of  tlu>  home  of  tlu-  White  Monk:  hills 
for  shelter,  forest  for  fuel,  fields  for  harvest,  and  a  burn  to  fur- 
nish food  for  the  fast-days,  'i'hc  ruin  lies  some  six  miles  south 
from  Dumfries.  The  traveller  may  leave  that  fresh,  dean, 
thrivintr  town  by  an  ancient  bridire  ovi-r  the  Nith,  built  by  the 
foundress   of   the    abbey,    and   jjreserving   large    portions    of    the 


276  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED  ABBEYS 

original  construction  ;  he  then  passes  through  a  part  of  Max- 
wclltown,  and  pursues  his  way  along  a  well-built  highroad, 
with  verdant  fields  and  pastures  on  either  hand,  through  stately 
avenues  of  elms  and  limes,  past  well-kept  country  seats,  and  over 
a  hill  from  which  a  glorious  view  is  gained,  looking  backward 
toward  the  town,  which  is  really  picturesque  for  a  manufactur- 
ing place,  to  the  left  over  level  stretches  of  brown  and  purple 
marshlands  brightened  here  and  there  by  brilliant  bits  of  scarlet 
and  gold,  where  clusters  of  blossoms  spring  from  the  rich  moist 
soil,  and  forward  to  the  majestic  group  of  fells  that  mount  up 
toward  the  crest  of  Criffel's  great  dome.  Descending,  he  soon 
enters  a  dense  wood  thickly  grown  with  underbrush,  where  it 
is  dark  and  still ;  then,  as  he  comes  once  more  into  full  light 
of  day,  the  ponderous  mass  of  the  abbey's  tower  salutes  him, 
standing  across  the  burn  only  a  few  yards  away. 

The  ruin  of  this  once  extensive  monastery  preserves  its 
church  edifice  more  nearly  complete  than  any  of  the  ruined 
abbeys.  The  roofs  have,  of  course,  all  disappeared ;  the  north 
aisle  wall  has  been  demolished,  most  of  the  aisle  vaults  have 
perished  too,  and  the  clerestory  in  some  places  has  fallen  down ; 
but  restore  these  few  details  and  you  have  the  perfect  church 
structure  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

The  plan  is  of  that  interesting  type  that  seems  to  have  been 
adopted  for  all   the   abbeys  of  the   first   magnitude  founded   in 


SWEETHEART   ABBEY 


277 


the  thirteenth  century,  and,  in  choir  and  transepts,  bears  a 
striking  similarity  to  the  plan  of  Pluscardcn  Abbey :  a  two- 
aisled  nave  of  six  bays  with  four  massive  piers  at  the  crossing, 
broad  transepts  with  eastern  aisle  of  two  bays  on  either  side 
of  the  choir,  and  an  aisle- 
less  choir  terminating  flatly 
toward  the  east. 

The  system  of  the  nave 
consists  of  a  dignified  ar- 
cade of  broad,  rather  low 
arches,  above  which  a  plain 
wall  occupies  the  position 
of  the  triforium,  as  is  often 
seen  in  the  Italian  Gothic 
churches,  and  as  we  have 
seen  once  before  in  Scot- 
land, as  the  reader  may  re- 
member, at  I  laddins^ton.  The  diLrnified  and  richly  ornate 
clerestory  was  designed  with  three  coupled,  trcfoiletl  arches 
above  each  of  the  main  arches,  with  a  narrow  sj:)acc  of  wall 
between  the  groups,  and  a  continuous  uioiihhng  canird  over 
the  arches  and  across  the  wall  surface.  A  passageway  runs 
between  these  arches  and  the;  clerestory  windows  on  (lie  out- 
side wall.  The  sills  of  these  windows  are  elevated  niuch 
above  the  clerestory  level  within  ;  for  the   aisle  roofs  were  steep 


A.  Nki. 

U.  CMr. 

C.  Cn>iiitln(r. 

V.  TrttiiwpU. 

K.  Kkcripty. 

r.  n.pi«t«T. 

U.  rttil)iUT  IIOUM* 

11.  IVii»ri»«j. 


PLAN   UK   SWKKTllKAKT  AIIBEY. 


2-S  SCOTLAND'S    RUINED   ABBEYS 


and  liigh,  and  the  openings  themselves  consist  of  three  uni- 
form lancets  in  the  older  portions  and  five  of  various  height 
embraced  by  a  semicircle  in  the  later.  The  north  aisle  wall, 
as  already  stated,  has  been  carried  away,  but  enough  has  been 
spared  near  its  east  end  to  show  that  it  was  pierced  with  five 
large  windows.  The  opposite  wall  is  unbroken  except  by  a 
doorway  in  the  easternmost  bay,  which  led  to  the  cloister. 
It  is  of  interest  to  notice  how  frequently  the  wall  of  the  nave, 
which  provided  light  through  a  set  of  arch  openings,  has  com- 
pletely disappeared  from  the  majority  of  these  churches,  while 
the  solid  wall  toward  the  cloister  is  almost  invariably  intact. 
The  west  front,  so  often  demolished  in  these  abbeys,  is  here 
preserved  to  the  summit  of  its  gable.  A  pointed  doorway  of 
diminutive  size  afforded  entrance,  but  the  two  stories  above, 
once  completely  filled  by  a  huge  traceried  window,  in  later 
years  partially  walled  up,  now  consist  of  three  pointed  open- 
ings with  remnants  of  tracery,  separated  by  small  buttresses 
in  its  lower  half  and  a  delicate  wheel  of  tracery  beneath  the 
original  broad  arch,  which  may  have  constituted  part  of  the 
original  tracery.  The  apex  of  the  gable  is  pierced  by  a  trefoil 
opening  within  a  triangle. 

The  tower  piers  are  a  fine  set  of  clustered  shafts,  some- 
what broken  near  the  ground,  and  the  four  great  arches  above 
them  carry  a  massive,  square  tower  with  crenellated  parapet 
intact    and    two    steep    gables    rising   within    the    battlements; 


SWEETHEART   ABBEY 


279 


small   rectangular  windows   pierce   the   tower  on   either  side  of 
the  line  of  the  very  steep  roofs  and  in  the  gabled  tops. 


THE  NAVE,  LOOKING  WEST.     From  Point  1  011  Pint. 

The  transept  is  concecU-d  to  he  IIk-  oldest  ])()rtion  of  tlic 
church.  The  eastern  aisle  was  vaulted,  and  two  of  these  vaults 
are  preserved  in  the  southern  arm.  It  is  |)lain  that  the 
arrangement    of    stories    here    was    the    same    as    in    the    nave, 


2 So  SCOTLAND'S   RUINKD   ABBEYS 

tlu)ugh  the  clerestory  is  greatly  dilapidated.  The  aisle  win- 
dows are  low,  pointed,  and  broad,  probably  similar  to  the  north 
aisle  openings.  The  north  transept  has  a  little  doorway  lead- 
ing to  the  fields,  with  a  tall  pointed  window  above  it  and 
another  with  the  segmental  top  in  the  gable.  In  the  western 
anole  a  stair  tower  extends  well  above  the  wall  and  terminates 
in  a.  decorated  turret. 

The  south  end  has  a  number  of  small  windows  and  a  door- 
way leading  to  the  sacristy;  high  up  on  the  wall  a  decorated 
wheel  window  has  been  partly  blocked  up  by  the  gable  of  the 
domestic  buildings.  The  eastern  aisle  is  separated  from  the 
choir,  on  both  sides,  by  a  heavy  wall,  but  beyond  this  the  two 
remaining  bays  of  the  choir  are  airily  built  and  richly  deco- 
rated. The  east  window  is  of  extreme  breadth,  divided  by 
four  mullions  into  five  lancet  lights,  the  central  lancet  extend- 
ing above  the  crowns  of  the  others.  The  low  sweeping  arch 
is  richly  moulded  and  filled  with  an  unusual  variety  of  delicate 
geometrical  tracery  remarkably  preserved,  despite  its  lightness. 
The  four  side  windows  are  uniform  in  size,  being  carried  up 
to  the  clerestory  level,  and  are  richly  moulded  and  traceried  like 
the  east  window.  All  have  flanking  shafts  very  slender  and 
delicately  capped.  Above  the  side  windows  can  be  seen  the 
remnants  of  a  passage  at  the  same  level  as  the  clerestory  in 
other  portions  of  the  edifice,  which  would  indicate  that  the 
clerestory  was   uniform   throughout    the    church.     In    the   gable 


SWEETHEART   ABBEY 


281 


of  the  choir  a  broad,  round-headed  window  with  remnants  of 
tracery  once  more  illustrates  the  persistence  of  the  semicir- 
cular arch  in  the  later  Scottish 
Gothic  work. 

The  range  of  domestic  build- 
ings   to    the    south    is    repre- 
sented  m   a  fragment  of  the     U  :^^:^t-% 
sacristy  and  the 
east  wall  of  the       J.^^ 
chapter    house,    ""/; 
which     pre- 
serves a  tall, 
pointed  win- 
dow      that 
has     borne 
tracery.   The 
keeper  of  the 
abbey       told 
me  that  this 
was     not    7'u 
situ,    but     had     be( 
moved    from    some  other 
portion     of      tlie     abbey. 

Across  the  injrecn   a  sins^le   an  bed   doorway,   with    niche 
above    and    escutcheons    on    either    side,    seems    to    mark    the 


THE   EAST    K.N  I). 
/•'torn    I'l'int  2  on   I'lan. 


282  SCOTLAND'S  RUINED   ABUEVS 

entrance  to  some  structure  that  stood  on  the  western  side 
of  the  court. 

From  whatever  point  one  views  the  abbey,  the  effect  of 
the  proportion  is  beautiful,  and  the  relation  of  parts  pleas- 
ing. The  colour  of  the  old  red  sandstone  —  brought  from  the 
Cumberland  coast,  it  is  said  —  is  delightful  in  contrast  with  the 
deep  green  of  the  firs  that  stand  as  sentinels  about  the  ruin. 
From  the  northeast  these  hues,  seen  against  the  purple  slope 
of  a  spur  of  Criffel  crowned  with  a  gleaming  shaft  of  white 
(the  Waterloo  monument),  make  a  picture  of  rare  beauty,  one 
not  soon  to  be  forgotten. 

There  seems  to  be  a  general  belief  that  the  work  upon 
Sweetheart  Abbey  was  largely  executed  by  foreign  artists ;  that 
a  band  of  Italian  craftsmen  was  sent  by  the  Pope  for  the  spe- 
cial purpose  of  erecting  Devorgilla's  church.  Mr.  Primrose, 
who  has  prepared  a  guide  to  the  abbey  with  far  greater  care 
and  research  than  is  usually  expended  upon  this  class  of  books, 
makes  this  statement  without  reserve,  though  he  gives  no 
authority  for  it.  It  is  true  that  at  the  time  the  abbey  was  in 
process  of  construction  it  was  the  custom  of  Rome  to  pro- 
vide artisans  for  the  convenience  of  such  as  desired  to  erect 
religious  edifices,  and  it  is  very  possible  that  this  and  other 
buildings  in  Great  Britain  were  executed  by  these  foreign 
masons.  The  history  of  freemasonry  is  closely  interwoven  in 
this  matter,  but  the  relation  of  that  fraternity  to  the  Romish 
Church  is  not  always  easy  to  determine. 


SWEETHEART  ABBEY  283 

It  is  said  that  the  chief  architect  was  one  Maccolo,  whose 
name  was  Scotticized  to  McCulloch,  and  who  was  the  founder 
of  the  Scottish  family  of  that  name  in  Galloway.  If  this  be 
true,  the  older  portions  of  the  abbey  at  least  were  erected  by 
these  foreigners  and  the  designs  for  the  whole  edifice  were 
drawn  by  Maccolo ;  for  it  was  entirely  completed  upon  one 
general  scheme  of  design.  This  may  account  for  certain  indi- 
vidualities of  style  here  displayed,  —  the  unique  form  of  tracery 
and  the  blank  wall  in  the  room  of  a  triforium  gallery. 

We  have  conjectured  that  the  choir  and  transepts  at  least 
were  finished  at  the  death  of  the  foundress  in  1289.  There  is 
a  charm  of  simple  dignity  about  the  choir  and  transepts,  but 
the  details,  many  of  them,  manifest  the  weakness  of  the  period. 
The  squat  form  of  the  arches,  which  were  struck  from  a  point 
below  the  capitals,  the  manner  in  which  the  arch  mouldings 
of  the  cast  window  are  allowed  to  die  against  the  \)\n.\n  jambs, 
are  two  of  the  points  which  speak  for  lack  of  purity  in 
style. 

The  next  portion  executed  must  have  been  the  first  two 
bays  of  the  nave,  for  these  are  somewhat  different  from  the 
rest.  The  scheme  of  design  here  is  exactly  similar  to  the  older 
part,  Ijiil  the  execution  of  dftails  is  much  richer.  The  cusjjed 
arches  of  the  clerestory  aie  very  richly  moulded.  Their  s|)an- 
drels  contain  well-rarved  heads,  and  the  (  apitals  of  the  slender 
colonettes    are    ornamented    with    varied    naturalistic    foliage    in 


2 84  SCOTLAND'S   RUINED  ABBEYS 

elegant  design.  This  stage  of  the  abbey's  history  brings  us  to 
the  outbreak  of  King  Edward's  wars  and  the  structure  shows 
a  break  in  construction ;  but  the  abbey  itself  seems  to  have 
suffered  no  direct  violence  and  is  known  to  have  been  pro- 
tected by  the  invading  monarch.  After  a  time,  building  opera- 
tions seem  to  have  been  resumed  and  the  remainder  of  the 
nave  with  its  west  front  and  the  tower  were  pushed  to  com- 
pletion, the  last  in  a  militant  style  well  in  keeping  with  the 
spirit  of  the  time.  In  later  years,  as  we  have  recorded,  the 
abbey  suffered  from  a  stroke  of  lightning,  and  was  obliged  to 
call  upon  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  for  aid.  The  abbey  shows 
marks  of  reconstruction  in  the  west  window,  as  already  re- 
corded, and  in  the  northern  gable,  where  a  window  of  pointed 
shape  seems  to  have  been  renewed  in  segmental  form.  But 
as  a  whole  Devorgilla's  shrine  seems  to  have  been  built  in 
one  unified  style  and  pretty  nearly  all  at  one  epoch.  Its  broad 
lines  are  fine  and  dignified;  its  details  chaste  and  well  em- 
ployed. Few  ruins  in  the  North  are  more  lovely  than  the 
youngest  of  Scotland's  ruined  abbeys. 


' 


GENERAL    INDEX 


Abbey  St.  Bathan's,  140. 

Abbot,  the,  274. 

Alexander  I.,  36. 

Alexander  II.,  5,43,47,  1 16,  141,  187,  196. 

Alexander  III.,  5,  43,  47,  84. 

Apse,  polygunal,  220. 

Arbroath  abbey,  156,  205. 

Badenoch,  Wolf  of,  196. 

Baliol,  John,  98,  269,  273, 

Bannockburn,  1 17,  136,  167. 

Beaton,  David,  169. 

Beauly  abbey,  177. 

Bcattvak^  S2. 

Becket,  'i"humas  il,  165,  204. 

Bode,  13. 

Benedictine  order,  2,  20,  36,  82,  I99,  230,  260. 

Brown,  Gilbert,  273,  274. 

Bruce,  Robert,  5,  49,  98,  1 1 8,  217,  230,  239. 

and  Baliol,  273. 

heart  of,  118. 

tonil)  of,  49. 
l'.uttres.s,  flying,  63,  in,  112. 

"Calvary,"  259,  263. 
Cambuskennelli  abbey,  2. 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  150. 
Carrick,  Karls  of,  228. 
Celtic  remains,  22,  84. 
Chapel,  St.  Oran's,  31: 
Chapter  house,  Arbroath,  162. 
Beauly,  182, 


Crosraguel,  225. 

Dryburgh,  132. 

Dundrennan,  251. 

Glenluce,  242. 

lona,  28. 

Kelso,  96. 

Pluscarden,  194, 

Sweetheart,  281. 
Charles  I.,  King,  62,  69. 
Cistercian  order,  97,  1 17,  175,  247,  271. 
Cloister,  28,  12O,  217,  241,  251. 
Coldingham  abbey,  139. 
Convent,  Haddington,  154. 

lona,  32. 

I.includen,  260. 
Covenanters,  48. 
Crosraguel  abbey,  216. 
Culdees,  15,  19,  35,  115. 

Dalmeny,  4. 

David  I.,  2,  19,  36,  41,  64,  116,  175,  254. 
Decorated  style,  5,  103,  105,  259. 
Devorgilla,  Countess  Douglas,  269. 
Douglas,  119,  261. 

Countess  Margaret,  263. 
tomb  of,  266. 

Sir  James,  1 18,  263. 
Douglases,  tombs  of,  II9,  267. 
Druid  worship,  12,  135. 
Dryburgh.  3,  124. 
Dunblane,  2. 
Dundrennan,  3,  245,  270. 


285 


(86 


GENERAL   INDEX 


Dunfermline,  4,  15,  34. 
Dunkeld,  2,  15,  18. 
Dumfries,  abbey  at,  269. 
Durham  cathedral,  40. 

Early  English  style,  4,  44,  61,  81,  127,  149,  157, 
192. 

Franciscan  order,  141,  196,  269. 
Frescoes,  200. 

Gallery,  singing,  26,  52. 
Galloway,  abi)eys  of,  234. 

lords  of,  235,  269. 
Glenluce,  240. 
Gregory  IX.,  Pope,  43. 
Gregory  XL,  Pope,  183. 

Haddington  abbey,  138,  277. 
Henry,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  97. 
Henry  I.,  of  England,  i. 
Heraldry,  262. 
Hertford,  Earl  of,  68. 
Holyrood,  2,  3,  55. 
House  of  Stuart,  6,  67,  86,  215,  217. 
Hugh  de  Moreville,  134,  203. 
tomb  of,  135. 

lona  abbey,  10,  16,  17,  29. 
cathedral,  30. 
convent,  32. 

Jedburgh  abbey,  2,  4,  71. 

Kelso  abbey,  2,  3,41,  87,  165,  214. 
Kenneth  McAlpin,  15. 
Kilwinning  abbey,  202. 
Kinloss,  2,  3,  172. 
Knox,  John,  232. 

Lady  chapel,  Dunfermline,  45. 
Lincludcn  abbey,  258. 
Lindisfarne  abbey,  41. 
Lord  of  the  Isles,  20. 


Maid  of  Norway,  44. 

Malcolm  III,  "Canmore,"  i,  4,  15,  18,  34,  46. 

Margaret,  St.,  queen,  18,  21,  34,  43,  45. 

"  Marniion,"  140. 

Mary,  queen,  69,  215,  255. 

Matilda,  queen,  i. 

McAlpin,  Kenneth,  king,  15. 

Melrose  abbey,  2,  100. 

Chroniclci  204. 
Military  abbey,  87. 
Moreville,  Hugh  de,  134,  203. 

Richard  de,  204. 

New  abbey  (^see  Sweetheart). 

Newbattle  abbey,  2. 

Norman  style  {^sce  Romanesque). 

Norsemen,  18,  175. 

North  Berwick,  abbey  at,  140. 

Old  abbey  {see  Dundrennan). 
Order  of  St.  Augustine,  65,  138. 

of  St.  Benedict,  2,  20,  36,  82,  199,  230,  260. 

of  Valliscaulium,  177,  184. 

Cistercian,  97,  117,  175,  247,  271. 

Franciscan,  141,  196,  269. 

Premonstratensian,  135,  237. 

Tironesian,  97,  214. 

Paisley,  228. 
Palace,  royal,  50,  68. 
Perpendicular  style,  6,  107. 
Picts  and  Scots,  18,  19,  22. 
Pluscardcn  aljbey,  186,  277. 
Pope  Gregory  IX.,  43. 
Pope  Gregory  XL,  183. 
Premonstratensian  order,  135,  237. 

Reformation,  6,  30,  201. 
Reginald,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  20. 
Richard  II.,  of  England,  66. 
Richard  de  Morville,  204. 

Romanesque  style,  3,  4,  38,  40,  57,  74,  78,  90, 
238,  240,  248. 


GENERAL   INDEX 


287 


Royal  tombs,  17,  22,  35,  43,  47,  67,  117. 
palace,  50,  68. 

St.  Adamnan,  21. 

St.  Aidan,  14,  115,  138. 

St.  Augustine,  138. 

St.  Blane,  15. 

St.  Columba,  II-15. 

St.  Cuthbert,  14,  115,  138. 

St.  Modan,  131. 

St.  Ninian,  13,  234,  239. 

St.  Vinnen,  203. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  40,  98,  100,  120,  129,  137,  246. 

tomb  of,  124. 
.Sculpture,  30,  63,  iii,  112,  153,  166,  266. 
Singing  gallery,  26,  52. 
Soulseat  abbey,  263. 
Stuart,  House  of,  6,  67,86,  214,  317. 
Sweetheart  al)bey,  269. 

Tironensian  order,  97,  214. 
Tomb  of  Alexander  IT.,  Melrose,  116. 
Bruce,  Dunfermline,  49. 


Countess  Douglas,  Lincluden,  266. 

Devorgilla  Douglas,  New  aljbey,  272. 

Henry  of  Northumberland,  Kelso,  97. 

Hugh  de  Morville,  Dryburgh,  135,  204. 

Jane  Carlyle,  Haddington,  150. 

Queen  Johanna,  Melrose,  117. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  Dryburgh,  137. 

St.  Margaret,  Dunfermline,  45, 

William  I,  Arbroath,  162,  166. 
Tongueland  abbey,  236. 
Tracery,    107,    109,    151,    182,    193,    225,    242, 

280. 
Transition,  style  of,  3,  161,  207. 

Valliscaulium,  order  of,  177,  184. 
Vaults,  40,60,  76,  104,  no,  152,  182,   105,  226, 
242,  264,  279. 
barrel,  28,  78,  79,  83,  94,  226. 

White  Friars,  135,  198. 

Whithorn  abbey,  234. 

Wigtown  abbey,  270. 

William  I,  "The  Lion,"  4,  141,  165,  204. 


European    Architecture 


A   HISTORICAL   STUDY 


BY 


RUSSELL   STURGIS,    A.M.,    Ph.D.,    F.A.LA. 

President  of  the    Fine  Arts   Federation  of  Neiv    York  ,•   Post-President  of  the  Architectural 

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